Stones and Silva exit frees £550k weekly wage as City sign Anderson for record £116m

Manchester City have shed more than £550,000 from their weekly wage bill as four players officially departed the Etihad Stadium on July 1, with the funds already earmarked for a club-record signing.

John Stones and Bernardo Silva — two of the most decorated players of Pep Guardiola’s era — headline the exits after their contracts expired. Academy graduates Ashton Muir and Ezra Carrington, both hampered by persistent injury problems, also leave the club.

Stones joined City from Everton in 2016 for £47.5 million, a fee that made him the second-most expensive defender in football history at the time. The centre-back went on to make 295 appearances under Guardiola, winning six Premier League titles, the Champions League, the Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, two FA Cups and five Carabao Cups. According to The Athletic, his contract was worth £250,000 per week before tax. The 32-year-old is currently representing England at the FIFA World Cup in North America and has yet to confirm his next club.

Silva arrived a year after Stones and became a fan favourite across a decade at the Etihad, scoring 76 goals in 460 appearances. He has already agreed a two-year contract with Real Madrid and officially joins the Spanish club today. Reports had placed his City wages at £300,000 per week.

The combined departure of all four players is believed to free up approximately £550,000 per week — savings City are wasting little time reinvesting. Elliot Anderson, the 23-year-old Nottingham Forest midfielder identified as Silva’s long-term replacement, completed a medical at England’s World Cup training base in Dallas on Sunday ahead of a deal worth around £116 million, which would surpass the club’s previous transfer record. Anderson is expected to be officially unveiled as a City player imminently.