Man City talent Joel Ndala is on the verge of leaving the Premier League champions as the winger is close to completing a move to PSV Eindhoven on loan for the 2024/25 campaign.
The 18-year-old is regarded as one of the most promising young players in Europe, however, Man City are willing to let the youngster go and PSV have won the race for the player.
According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Ndala is set to undergo his PSV medical on Monday ahead of completing a loan move with a conditional obligation to buy. Should certain performance-related criteria be met, the Dutch outfit have an agreement on a fee of around €7m, which could rise to €10m.
The Man City talent will sign a contract that runs until 2029 but the Premier League club still have some control over his future as there are clauses in the 18-year-old’s deal that enable the Premier League champions to buy him back or earn a significant percentage of a future sale.
Ndala leaves Man City with four years left on his deal with the Manchester club.
It was recognised that the winger is ready for regular senior football and he would have not got that at the Etihad Stadium throughout the current season.
Could Man City be about to repeat Jadon Sancho mistake?
Man City have one of the best academies in Europe and Ndala is the latest from the Manchester club’s youth set-up to grab the attention of several clubs.
The Premier League champions have let many top talents go in the past who have gone on to do great things and could they be about to repeat this mistake with Ndala? Players such as Jadon Sancho, Michael Olise, Romeo Lavia and Cole Palmer have all gone on to do important things with other clubs and have been part of mega-money deals.
City could miss out on millions once again down the line when it comes to Ndala, just like they did with Sancho, but there is also a case to be made that they would not have been worth that much had the Premier League club not let them go and play regularly.
Sancho was part of the Manchester club’s academy from 2015-2017 before leaving to join Borussia Dortmund. The Englishman became a huge success at the Bundesliga club before departing for Man United in 2021 as part of a £73m deal.
Things have not gone so smoothly for the winger since, however, Man City missed out on millions by allowing him to leave seven years ago.
City can’t keep all the promising Academy players. They have to make a decision on each and every one to decide whether to keep them or let them go. There is always a risk with this because you never know how a player will develop when they leave.
City didn’t decide to let Sancho leave. He was the one that chose to play elsewhere. City’s policy is if a player wants to leave they will not stop them. So the way things have worked out perhaps it was Sancho’s mistake.