Man City defender is available for £10m - Coventry, Leicester and Norwich may be on notice | OneFootball

The City youngster has spent a lot of time in the EFL over the past four years.

Manchester City are reportedly willing to let Callum Doyle leave the club permanently this summer.

At 21, Doyle has a surprising amount of EFL experience. He has endured four season-long loan spells in England's second and third tiers since becoming a professional member of City's squad, but he is yet to make an impact under Pep Guardiola.

According to The Athletic, his parent club are happy to let Doyle leave the Etihad Stadium this summer - this time it'd be for good. Without an obvious route into City's first-team, the decision has been made that a parting of ways would probably be best for the player.

Man City open to selling Callum Doyle

Moving on from up-and-coming talents like Doyle is nothing new for Guardiola's side, especially for those that have performed well on loan in the EFL. They did something very similar with Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who, after two separate loan spells with Burnley and Southampton, joined the Saints as part of a £20 million deal following their promotion to the Premier League.

Man City would look to recoup around £10 million for Doyle, according to The Athletic, half as much as his old teammate cost the Hampshire side. The online outlet added that German club Hoffenheim had a bid rejected for the defender earlier in the summer.

Southampton were obligated to buy Harwood-Bellis because of their promotion, and a similar clause could be inserted into a deal for Doyle this summer. The possibility of another temporary switch is on the cards for the 21-year-old, as per The Athletic. An option or obligation to buy the centre-back at the end of a move like this could be included.

Callum Doyle's former clubs should be looking out for a potential return deal

Doyle had another decent season last time out with Norwich City. Asked to play both in the middle of defence and on the left of it, he racked up seven assists across the campaign, but the Canaries' frailties at the back were not overcome by his talent.

He only kept five clean sheets in 40 Championship appearances. Still, it was evident that he was one of their better options at the back, if not the best.

Norwich have made some additions at centre-back so far this summer, with Harry Darling and Jakov Medic, but there's no doubt that Doyle would be welcomed back to Carrow Road, in part because of his positional flexibility.

Other former loan sides Coventry City and Leicester City may be keen to look at a return deal for Doyle. Frank Lampard's side wouldn't need Doyle at left-back as they already have three options in this spot on the pitch, but they have lost central defender Luis Binks to Swedish side Brondby IF, which has left them a little short in the 21-year-old's natural position.

Doyle's previous spell at the CBS Arena helped the Sky Blues to get to the play-off final, where they ultimately lost on penalties to Luton Town. He was beloved by their supporters then, who, you'd imagine, would love to see him back in their colours.

Leicester are looking likely to lose Conor Coady this summer, with both Rangers and Wrexham interested. His potential exit could open up a slot for the Man City youngster to slip into. His loan spell with the Foxes was derailed a bit by an injury, but the tactical flexibility that he showed with them, like he did with Norwich, was a massive aid in their title-winning 2023/24 campaign.

It'd certainly be useful for Marti Cifuentes to have back now, given Leicester's unconvincing backline, although a permanent deal may be hard to strike given their finances.

Doyle is a proven Championship asset that has both challenged for promotion and won it at the level. The Citizens' willingness to offload him this summer should get plenty of teams interested in him.