Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola feels sadness at the recent exit of three-star players but insists the club’s record transfer income this summer proves they are sustainable.
City sold Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal for £45m and £30m. Raheem Sterling also departed for Chelsea for £50m as part of an overhaul at the Premier League champions.
The trio were part of all four title-winning campaigns under Guardiola since his arrival in Manchester in 2016.
Seven other players have been sold this summer, including goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu and Romeo Lavia to Southampton.
“In part, I’m a little bit sad that these important players have gone,” said Guardiola. “But it’s a business. To invest you have to sell players otherwise you can’t be sustainable.
“I know the image of the club is that always we buy, buy, buy. But we sell too. We sell important players for big money.
“All the clubs know today selling players is not easy. All clubs want to do it but not everyone can.”
In addition to the player departures already completed, there are decisions to be made over the short-term futures of striker Liam Delap and midfielder James McAtee, while City would also be due a substantial sell-on should Jack Harrison leave Leeds United.
The revenue generated by City this summer is already the most in a single transfer window by a Premier League side.
But there has been significant money spent on players coming into the club, including £45m on England midfielder Kalvin Phillips, £51.2m on Erling Haaland, £14.1m on Julian Alvarez and, potentially, upwards of £30m on Brighton defender Marc Cucurella, who has submitted a transfer request to force the move.
