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Brahim Diaz has left Manchester City for Real Madrid in a deal worth up to £22million.

And the contract which has taken him to Real Madrid, for an initial fee of £15.5million, has a clause designed to ensure he does not end up joining Manchester United!

The 19-year-old could have left the Blues on a free transfer in the summer, when his current contract expires, but Real have swooped now to ensure they add him to their plans to build a new team around young Spanish talent.

Pep Guardiola tried to persuade the youngster to stay, but City will get £15.5million up front and as much as £6.5million in add-ons, for a player who is believed to have cost them around £350,000 from Malaga.

Full details are not known, but it is understood around £3.5million of the bonus payments are easily reached – one of them is triggered if Brahim gets a contract extension, for instance.

City will also get 15 per cent of any fee Madrid get from selling him on, with one incredible exception.

If the Spanish giants decide to sell to “another Manchester club”, that sell-on percentage rises to 40 per cent, making it almost impossible for the talented youngster to end up at Old Trafford.

The Reds are believed to be leading the chase for Jadon Sancho, who moved to Borussia Dortmund for £8million in 2017 and has been a huge success.

There is no buy-back clause inserted in the Diaz deal, as there was for Sancho’s move, but City remain on good terms with the player, and if he does move on from Madrid, would be notified of his availability so they could join the bidding.

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City did not want Brahim to go, but the player felt his progress into the first team was blocked by other young players, with 24-year-old Raheem Sterling and 27-year-old Riyad Mahrez both on long-term contracts and 22-year-old Leroy Sane expected to sign one soon.

That was what influenced Sancho to leave for Dortmund, with Sterling and Sane ahead of him, and City favourites to land Alexis Sanchez at the time.

But 18-year-old Phil Foden, who many see as being in the same situation, can see a path into the first team, with David Silva being 32 years old.

Getting such a big fee for a player who has limited first team appearances – he has played 15 times, none of them in the Premier League this season – is becoming a regular feature at City.

They sold Kelechi Iheanacho to Leicester for £25million, plus Rony Lopes for £10million and Enes Unal for £12million.

And this season they have sold Angus Gunn, who never pulled on a first team shirt, to Southampton in a deal worth £13.5million.

Given the choice, City would not have added Brahim to that lucrative list – they feel he had a good chance of pushing Sterling, Sane and Mahrez – but the player was drawn by the lure of Madrid, understandable for a young Spaniard.

Getting a big fee for him was the best outcome for all involved.