Manchester City Sell Treble Winner Nathan Aké Below Market Value in Sign of Squad Overhaul

Nathan Aké has completed a permanent transfer from Manchester City to Fenerbahce, with the Süper Lig runners-up paying a fee of €8.1 million plus €1.75 million in add-ons, some €2.15 million below the centre-back's €12 million market value. The move ends a six-year spell in Manchester that yielded 12 trophies and closes the book on one of the more understated success stories of the Guardiola era.

The 31-year-old, currently on international duty with the Netherlands at the World Cup, has signed a three-year contract and will join his new team-mates at Fenerbahce's pre-season training base in Austria once his tournament commitments end. It is a deal that says as much about City's direction of travel as it does about Aké's own career.

The End of a Trophy-Laden Era at the Etihad

Aké arrived at City from Bournemouth for €45.3 million in August 2020 and leaves having made 177 appearances across all competitions, scoring 10 goals and adding three assists. In between, he became a fixture of one of the most dominant squads English football has seen.

Six Years, 177 Appearances, 12 Trophies

Under Guardiola, Aké collected an extraordinary honours list for a player who was rarely a guaranteed starter:

• Four Premier League titles
• One UEFA Champions League
• Two FA Cups
• One Club World Cup
• 12 major trophies in total across six seasons

That haul includes City's historic 2022/23 Treble, the defining achievement of Guardiola's reign and a campaign in which Aké played a rotational but meaningful role across the defensive line.

A Farewell Message From the Treble Winner

Aké was reflective in his parting words, framing the move as an emotional but proud departure rather than a bitter exit.

"It's been a privilege to represent Manchester City over the past six years and I'm so grateful to have been part of a special team. I've grown so much here, as a player and a person, and I'm thankful for the time I've had at the club. I'll always cherish the memories, particularly of winning the Treble, being part of all four Premier League titles in a side that made history and triumphing in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in my final season at the club."

That final season, though, told its own story. Aké made just 18 Premier League appearances in 2025/26 and totalled only 688 minutes in the league, used primarily as domestic cup cover rather than a first-choice option.

Why City Let a Treble Winner Go Below Market Value

A €2.15 million discount on a departing squad player is not, in isolation, remarkable. But it fits a pattern worth watching as City reshape their squad around a younger core.

The Numbers Behind the Discount

Transfermarkt valued Aké at €12 million before the move, yet City accepted a package worth €9.85 million including add-ons. For a four-time Premier League winner with Champions League and Treble medals to his name, that is a notably modest return, even accounting for his reduced playing time and advancing years.

The explanation lies in supply and demand. Aké's role had shrunk to the point of being almost entirely a cup-competition option, his contract situation gave City limited leverage, and a swift sale before pre-season begins clears space on the wage bill without dragging the situation into deadline-day uncertainty.

World Cup Timing and Contract Realities

Completing the deal while Aké is still involved with the Netherlands at the World Cup adds an unusual wrinkle. It suggests City and Fenerbahce prioritised getting the paperwork done quickly rather than waiting for the tournament to finish, likely to allow Fenerbahce to build him into their pre-season plans in Austria from the earliest possible moment. For a 31-year-old defender, time on the training pitch before a new league campaign matters more than a marginal fee saving for his outgoing club.

Fenerbahce's Aggressive Summer Rebuild Continues

For Fenerbahce, Aké is not an isolated marquee arrival but the latest piece in a deliberate recruitment strategy targeting experienced European talent.

A Fourth Summer Arrival in Istanbul

Aké becomes the club's fourth summer signing, joining Sidiki Chérif, Vedat Muriqi and Adem Yeşilyurt through the door at their Istanbul base. The pattern is consistent: proven quality, often from major European leagues, brought in to close the gap on domestic rivals.

Chasing Galatasaray, Chasing Lewandowski

Fenerbahce finished as Süper Lig runners-up last season, behind champions Galatasaray, and their recruitment drive reads like a squad built to end that runner-up status. The club has also been repeatedly linked with robert-lewandowski" class="entity-link entity-link--player">Robert Lewandowski as a potential option should he leave Real Madrid, underlining an appetite for recognisable, trophy-winning Premier League and La Liga names rather than developmental prospects. Aké, with four Premier League titles and Champions League pedigree, fits that recruitment profile precisely.

What Aké's Exit Means for City's Defence Next Season

Aké's departure is not a shock in isolation, but it is symbolic of how far down the pecking order he had fallen and what that says about City's centre-back options heading into next season.

The New Pecking Order

With Rúben Dias, Joško Gvardiol and Manuel Akanji ahead of him in Guardiola's plans, Aké's 688 Premier League minutes last season made his exit a matter of when, not if. His departure leaves City needing to monitor defensive depth carefully, particularly given the physical demands of a title-chasing campaign across four competitions.

A Reshuffle Funded by Sales

Aké's exit arrives in the same transfer window that has seen City complete the British-record signing of anderson" class="entity-link entity-link--player">Elliot Anderson, and it fits a broader theme of the summer: trimming experienced, ageing legs from the Treble-winning core to help fund a new one. Selling a 31-year-old squad defender below market value, quickly and with minimal fuss, is consistent with a club prioritising wage-bill flexibility over maximising every individual fee.

What happens next

Aké will finish the World Cup with the Netherlands before reporting to Fenerbahce's pre-season camp in Austria, where he is expected to slot straight into a defence being rebuilt for a genuine title challenge to Galatasaray. His experience of winning at the highest level in England will be central to that project.

For City, the focus now shifts to whether further squad trimming follows Aké out of the Etihad door this summer, and whether the funds and space created are reinvested in defensive reinforcements or continue flowing toward marquee additions in midfield and attack. Guardiola's rebuild is clearly under way; Aké's below-market exit is simply the clearest data point yet of how it is being financed.