Do the Pozo and Lopes Sales Indicate End of "Holism?"

The final week of the transfer window, Manchester City made two very surprising player sales. The sale of Pozo which was completed right before the Spanish transfer deadline on Monday ended the Blues career for a player who made four first team appearances last season and even started a league game in December.

The 19 year-old Pozo who joined the club in 2012 was sold to Almeria for a fee of £600,000 which seems paltry given the player's potential. It is reported Manchester City has a buyback clause in the deal.

Last week, Rony Lopes the club's youngest ever goal scorer at 17 years-old moved to Monaco for a fee of £8.8 million. Lopes now 19, stared last season on loan with Lille. The pace and touch of Lopes appeared to make him the likely successor to David Silva down the road. However now he will be plying his trade elsewhere.

Earlier in the summer Karim Rekik who started just Premier League game for Manchester City, back in 2012 when he was 18 was sold to Marseille. Rekik had spent the last two seasons on loan at PSV. Rekik now aged 20 has broken into the full Netherlands National Team, so his sale given Manchester City's perceived weakness in defensive positions was surprising.

Manchester City's brass has spoken of a "holistic" approach to building the club. But it seems even though Pozo, Lopes and Rekik had developed into solid professionals coming through the Blues system they quite simply weren't good enough soon enough to make the first team.

So it appears "holism" is dead at Eastlands for the foreseeable future.