The reported negotiations between Manchester City and Barcelona for the transfer of Ferran Torres have raised some eyebrows among the City fanbase, not because of the fact the striker wants to leave, but because of the fee involved.
According to multiple reports, the final sum - if an agreement is officially reached - is likely to be €50m (£42.4m). Given that City paid Valencia £25m in August 2020 to bring the player to the Etihad Stadium, that sounds like a tidy profit.
However, given the progress Ferran has made under Pep Guardiola, the fact that he is now regarded as a striker rather than a winger and that at just 21 years of age he has masses of potential, City would have hoped to have brought in a little more cash.
If the Ferran deal goes through, it will be the latest example of City selling players for less than their true value.
City don't often sell players, but when they do they often get the raw end of the deal, while clubs like Liverpool earn a lot from selling unwanted talents.
City earned £54m from the sale of Leroy Sane in 2020, a player who had just spent a year on the sidelines with injury but at the time was a 24-year-old with the world at his feet.
Sane struggled during his first season at new club Bayern Munich, but having scored 11 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions so far this season, it looks like the Bundesliga giants got themselves a bargain.
Jadon Sancho was a similar case. When the now-England international decided that he wanted to leave City in 2017, he had not made a senior appearance for Guardiola's side.
Nevertheless, he attracted interest from a host of elite European clubs. City knew that they had a seriously talented youngster on their hands, but they let him go to Borussia Dortmund for a little over £7m. Last summer, Manchester United paid £73m to bring him back to England.
So, why do City keep getting the raw end of deals?
Txiki Begiristain has done a sterling job in recruiting new talent for Guardiola, but when a player wants to leave City, his hands are somewhat tied.
Guardiola has repeatedly made it clear that any player that wishes to leave the club is free to do so - the boss doesn't want anyone in the changing room who isn't 100 per cent committed to the cause.
This approach, while greater for building a tight-knit squad with excellent morale, gives potential buyers the bargaining power. They know that City can't play hardball forever, because a) City want to get rid of the player, and b) in most cases (certainly Sane) there aren't many clubs out there that can afford the wages of City players.
That means that clubs can afford to make offers below City's initial valuation, as they know that the Blues will have to accept at some point.
This becomes even more of a problem for City when the player in question wants to move to a giant from the country of their birth. German kids dream of playing for Bayern, while kids in Spain long to one day run out at Camp Nou or Santiago Bernabeu.
City knew if they kept Sane from fulfilling that dream, or keep Ferran from his, neither party would end up happy.
Maybe City aren't the ones inflating the transfer market after all.
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