REPORT: Manchester City are paying a shameful amount of money to loaned out players

Arsene Wenger is football's Nostradamus.

When probed for the 437th time in his Arsenal tenure about why he was not splashing cash on new signings, he was exasperated. The market is grotesquely inflated regarding English sides, he argued. Most of the new TV money is being speculated on new signings and increased wages that will saddle clubs with £10m-a-season players that may turn out to be useless and still have four years to run on their contract. Then, walking contradiction that he is, he splashed out over £50m on Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez. Manchester City have spent the most money of all the Premier League sides this season. Pep Guardiola arrived with a long, long shopping list and it cost his new club in excess of £170m. He was well aware of the need to ship out some unwanted players before the transfer window closed. Seven senior squad members were loaned out in August with five - Joe Hart, Eliaquim Mangala, Wilfried Bony, Samir Nasri and Jason Denayer - all leaving on Wednesday.

Hart:" Grazie Toro" https://t.co/FhNq9IesoJ #SFT #110AnnidiToro "Lavorerò duro ogni giorno, sono molto felice"

— Torino Football Club (@TorinoFC_1906) August 31, 2016

The Times report that City will pay the bulk of the players' wages while they are off at other clubs. The club will take a whopping £13.5m hit to pay the salaries of men Guardiola would rather be shot of. City are said to be paying £4m of Hart's £6m annual salary while they are paying over half of Mangala and Nasri's wages. Stoke City did pay a £2m loan fee for Bony so that effectively negates their share of salary pay-outs for 2016/17. During a summer where ludicrous money was laid out for average players - and Robbie Brady was somehow left in the Championship - City's loanees have emerged pretty well. Wenger should get out while he still can. The new GAA Hour football podcast is here. Listen to Colm Parkinson, Senan Connell, and Barry Cahill dissect a classic between Dublin and Kerry. Subscribe here on iTunes.