Manchester City did not get up to too much in the summer transfer window, but one person reckons the club might have lost a serious talent.
Manchester City brought in two players in Savinho and Ilkay Gundogan.
Two players from last season’s first-team departed in Julian Alvarez and Sergio Gomez.
Despite the English transfer window closing last Friday, City have still sanctioned a couple of exits in the last few days.
Issa Kabore has sealed a loan move to Portuguese giants Benfica.
And this morning, after an agreement was reached last week – confirmation has arrived of Joel Ndala’s move to PSV Eindhoven on a season-long loan. PSV will pay an initial £5.4 million for his permanent transfer next summer, and the deal could rise to as much as £8.4 million through add-ons.
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink reacts to signing Joel Ndala from Manchester City
Ndala, 18, has been with City since 2017, arriving from Port Vale at the age of 10.
After impressing in the City academy, he signed his first professional deal in July 2022. After that, Ndala made good progress at the club and was actually named in the City first-team squad that went to the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia, although he did not play.
Ndala was unable to make his first-team debut for City despite all his promise.
But the club still feel he could potentially develop into a top player – because they have inserted a 20% sell-on clause in the deal that has taken him to PSV.
It is a good opportunity for Ndala, with the Eredivisie having proven to be a good environment for young English talents in recent years.
Ndala has been officially announced this morning, and the club’s Technical Manager of Young PSV Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink is absolutely delighted to get him.
He said (via psv.nl) “Joel is an extremely talented player. We are happy that he believes in our plan. He is a versatile player, who with his speed and technique fits very well in Dutch football.”
City smart to include sell-on
So Ndala will now embark on a new challenge over in the Netherlands and it could well be a good move for him.
We have seen the likes of Mason Mount, Jarrad Branthwaite, Jake Clarke-Salter, Marcus Edwards, Noni Madueke, Reiss Nelson and Dominic Solanke all go to the Netherlands and benefit.
Ndala now has the chance to play regular senior football and hopefully, he can hit the ground running quickly.
City clearly felt comfortable in allowing him to leave. But it’s good to see the club once again ensuring that there is a sell-on clause in place, just in case Ndala really explodes and ends up having big clubs trying to sign him.
It is standard procedure these days for City to add in sell-on clauses, and it is great to see.
