Where are they now? The 10 most expensive players sold by Pep Guardiola

While Pep Guardiola certainly enjoys splashing the cash in the transfer market, he’s also made some significant profits on players over the years.

The Manchester City boss rarely stands in someone’s way if they decide to leave the club he’s in charge of and he’s sold plenty of big names throughout his career.

We’ve taken a closer look at some of Guardiola’s biggest sales and have checked out where those players are today.

10. Yaya Toure

The most lucrative sale that Guardiola ever sanctioned during his spell with Barcelona was offloading Toure to Man City back in 2010.

While Toure was world-class in his own right, he didn’t stand much of a chance of breaking up the Xavi, Iniesta and Sergio Busquets midfield trio that Guardiola had assembled.

The Ivory Coast midfielder enjoyed his peak years with City and did briefly work with Guardiola again during his final two years with the club.

Since hanging up his boots, Toure has gone into coaching and now works as the assistant coach for the Saudi Arabia national team.

9. Riyad Mahrez

Man City banked around £30million for Mahrez when Al-Ahli came calling last summer. The Algerian winger increased his wages by over five times when making the switch to Saudi Arabia.

Given he’s under contract with Al-Ahli until 2027, he looks set to stay in Saudi Arabia for the foreseeable future.

8. Oleksandr Zinchenko

After working with Guardiola for six years, Zinchenko was sold to Arsenal in the summer of 2022 for a fee of around £30million.

The 27-year-old has been a steady performer for Mikel Arteta’s side since his arrival, although he’s yet to win a trophy since leaving City.

7. Danilo

While Danilo wasn’t exactly a roaring success at Man City, the club still managed to bank a fee just shy of £32million when offloading him to Juventus.

Five years after leaving Guardiola and City behind, Danilo still plays for Juventus today and is set to play his sixth season for the club.

6. Cole Palmer

Given the player Palmer has now developed into, Man City were probably short-changed by Chelsea when they received £42.5million for the England international.

Only Erling Haaland scored more Premier League goals than Palmer last season and Guardiola probably regrets letting him go deep down, despite what he might say to the press.

“I said many times, I didn’t give him the minutes that he maybe deserved and wanted, the minutes he now has at Chelsea,” Guardiola told reporters.

“I understand that completely. I am happy for him because he is a lovely guy. He is playing good and is an incredible threat.”

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5. Gabriel Jesus

The Brazilian forward is one of the most naturally gifted players in the Premier League, but boy can he be frustrating to watch at times.

Arsenal splashed £45million to land him in 2022 and he’s had a fairly mixed spell since making the move having scored 19 goals in 69 appearances for the club.

4. Ferran Torres

Man City fans never really got to see much of Torres during his two-year stint with the club, but Guardiola did manage to flip him for a healthy profit.

Having signed from Valencia for a fee of £20.8million, the club managed to bank £45.9million when selling him to Barcelona a few years later.

While the 26-year-old has shown flashes of quality at Camp Nou, he’s yet to nail down a consistent starting spot.

3. Raheem Sterling

Only Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero have scored more goals under Guardiola than Sterling has. In total, he bagged 120 goals while playing under the former Barcelona boss.

Looking back on his £47.5million move to Chelsea, City definitely made the correct decision to cash in when they did.

While Sterling still offers a decent threat going forward, he’s not been able to score double figures in the league since leaving Manchester behind.

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name Man City’s 20 highest goalscorers under Pep Guardiola?

2. Leroy Sane

City were arguably at their best under Guardiola when they had a front three of Sane, Sterling and Aguero. That forward trio had Premier League defences on strings during their peak.

However, Sane’s head was turned when Bayern Munich came calling in 2020 and the Bundesliga giants managed to snatch him away in a deal worth £51million including add-ons.

He’s continued to win silverware on the regular since leaving City, having won seven trophies in the last four seasons.

1. Julian Alvarez

Having just signed for Atletico Madrid in a deal worth £81.5million, Alvarez is by far the biggest sale of Guardiola’s career to date.

The Argentine forward has been a great asset to Guardiola over these last few years, but Man City were never going to turn down that sort of fee.

“It was a joy to work with him,” Guardiola said upon Alvarez leaving the club.

“I learnt a lot from him and hopefully he can find what he was looking for.”