City effectively turned their youth system into a money-printing machine but they could sure do with some of the talented players they sold

"Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money." So goes an old Native American proverb. In a footballing context, Johan Cruyff struck a similar note when he said: "I've never seen a bag of money score a goal."

The two analogies apply perfectly to Manchester City right now. City’s considerable wealth, coupled with having the best coach in the world for almost a decade, industry-leading recruitment and shrewd moves off the pitch, has undoubtedly made them one of the best teams in the world. But right now their wealth is not exactly showing, as they contemplate a run of seven defeats and just one victory in their last 10 matches following their latest defeat by Juventus.

City have the highest wage bill and revenue in England, and the third highest in Europe, but their financial might cannot help them out of their current mess, at least not until the January transfer window opens. Indeed, the club seem to be paying a heavy price for not spending more in the last transfer window, when they brought in just Savinho and Ilkay Gundogan despite making a fortune from selling Julian Alvarez.

Just a few months after winning a historic fourth consecutive Premier League title, Pep Guardiola's serial-winning squad appears to have gone stale. Five of the 11 players who started against Juventus have been at the club since 2017, while five are over the age of 30, with Kevin De Bruyne 33 and Kyle Walker and Gundogan both 34.

City are crying out for some squad renewal. And the most frustrating thing for the club must be the sense that they had a homegrown group of players in the club's academy who were deemed not good enough to push into the first team but who have thrived elsewhere. While the likes of Phil Foden, Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb have made successful transitions from the youth system into Guardiola's side, City have tended to view their academy more as a money-earner than a breeding ground for future first-team stars. And that is now looking like a huge mistake.

Getty Images SportPalmer killing it amid City slump

City have made an astonishing £176m in the last three years ($223m) on selling academy players, contributing to the club making record revenues for consecutive years and continuing to make handsome profits. The majority of those players had never even made it into Guardiola's matchday squad. Some of them had never even spent any significant time in Manchester, such as Yan Couto and Pedro Porro, who were loaned to Girona before being sold on, while others had practically grown up at the club.

It has long been the case at most Premier League clubs that the majority of academy players will not develop into first-team regulars, with Foden and Lewis being the two rare exceptions to that trend at City. But it really should have been three.

With every attacking player, aside from Erling Haaland, being starved of goals, it has been particularly frustrating from a City point of view to see how Cole Palmer has blossomed into one of the best players in the world at Chelsea. While Foden is still waiting to score his first Premier League goal this season, Palmer has scored five times in his last three games.

The forward has 11 league goals for this campaign – two behind leaders Haaland and Mohamed Salah – while also boasting six assists. It follows an astonishing debut campaign with the Blues in which he scored 22 league goals and set up a further 11. As a result, it's left Guardiola and sporting director Txiki Begiristain looking extremely short-sighted for sanctioning his sale.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportChelsea's gain

Palmer was first called into a matchday squad by Guardiola to face Chelsea in June 2020 but within the next three years he was only given 12 competitive starts. The England forward had bags of confidence to go with his talent and after scoring in an FA Cup tie against Swindon, in a typically hilarious demeanour which has become a staple of his post-match interviews, he promised 'Prem come soon'. It never did.

He made only three Premier League starts for the club, never scoring. Given his scant experience, accepting a £42.5m ($54m) offer from Chelsea seemed like a no-brainer at the time, both the latest example of City's shrewd negotiating and Chelsea's hubris. How wrong that assessment would prove to be.

Palmer is now the Premier League's poster boy and looks set to dominate the next decade unless he is ever tempted to follow the path of Jude Bellingham and move to one of the top clubs on the continent. He would certainly fit right in at Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. And he really should have fit into City.

Guardiola knew he was a great player and has said he would have liked to have kept him for another year, but Palmer pushed to leave as he was determined to get more playing opportunities. Ultimately, Palmer had more belief in himself than Guardiola did. Chelsea's gain has been City's loss.

Getty Images SportBetter than Doku & Nunes

Palmer looked like a ready-made replacement for Riyad Mahrez when the Algerian left City just after the treble triumph in 2023, especially when he cut in from the right wing to score in the Community Shield against Arsenal and the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla.

But City agreed to let him leave, only to sign Jeremy Doku for £55 million ($69m), £12m more than they had taken from Chelsea to part with their homegrown forward. That move was even harder to understand as Doku predominantly plays off the left wing. The Belgian can be a terrifying winger on his day but his end product – four goals and 12 assists in all competitions – pales in comparison to Palmer's.

City also signed Matheus Nunes after selling Palmer, splashing out £53m ($67m) on the player who Guardiola had once hailed as among the best midfielders in the world. The Portugal international has contributed very little in his time at the club, in which he has only started 12 Premier League games and has failed to score in the league. Nunes is more of a defensive midfielder but has been increasingly used on the wing by Guardiola. And he is a shadow of the player Palmer has proved to be, despite costing £10m more.

GettyShould have taken over from De Bruyne

Palmer has proven to be much more than just a winger at Chelsea, though. He is the leader of their attack, able to play across the front three and as a No.10. And looking how he has developed, it is tempting to conclude that he would have been the perfect successor at City to Kevin De Bruyne.

The Belgian has played very little this campaign as he battles a sports hernia injury but in the last two games he has looked like City's best creative hope. Given his age, and the fact he tore his hamstring twice last year, it is remarkable that a club of City's resources is still looking to De Bruyne to inspire them.

The former Chelsea midfielder is expected to depart at the end of the season when his contract runs out and it will cost a lot to find a suitable replacement, with Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen looking like the best candidate out there and likely to be priced at £100m ($126m). It's a crying shame that Guardiola couldn't find a bigger role for Palmer in the team and have him learn from De Bruyne before eventually taking the baton from him.