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Sam Edozie set to leave Manchester City for Bayer Leverkusen - Fabrizio Romano
Bayer Leverkusen are set to sign Manchester City teenager Sam Edozie on a permanent deal, as confirmed by Fabrizio Romano.
The winger is the latest young English talent to make the move to the Bundesliga, following in the footsteps of Borussia Dortmund stars of past and present in former City youth player Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham.
The 19 year old is due to sign a two year deal at the German side, which Guardian reporter Romano confirmed based on the reporting of The Secret Scout.
The England under-21 international who joined City from Millwall in 2019 had made a single senior appearance under Pep Guardiola.
He started the Community Shield loss to Leicester City in August 2021, lasting just over an hour before he was replaced by £100million man Jack Grealish.
He subsequently did not see the field in the first team but made 15 appearances in Premier League 2 and the UEFA Youth League.
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Talent pipeline
Sancho and Bellingham have helped make German moves for English prospects a much more attractive proposition.
The now Manchester United winger returned for big money after becoming an international calibre star in Dortmund, and Bellingham has gone through a similar development process before what is almost inevitably going to be a mega transfer in the next couple of years.
Edozie will hope to do exactly the same after seeing his opportunities severely limited after that start in the curtain-raiser ahead of the recently-completed season.
As with so many of the super clubs in Europe there comes a point where some ambitious players tire of waiting for a sustained opportunity in the first team when major money is spent in the transfer market as a first instinct.
Phil Foden is the exception that proves the rule of late at Cityt as he has become a bonafide star without having to leave the Etihad first, but there was a long time when it felt like Guardiola was holding back on giving him a true run as well.
At the age of 19 Edozie has plenty of time on his side still and having apparently grasped the opportunity to strike out on his own his rise could be given a boost.
In other Manchester City news, the club will have to pay Wolves £45million if they want to say Rayan Ait-Nouri.