Silva's stand-in: Monaco's savvy supplanting of stars

When it comes to transfers, one club's gain is regularly another outfit's loss, though it's up to the sellers to weigh the absence of a player with the profits made on the sale.

Related: City seals reported £43M move for Bernardo Silva

Manchester City announced Friday that it had agreed to a deal for Bernardo Silva, leaving both a massive hole on Monaco's right side and a healthy chunk of change in its principality bank account.

Supporters of Les Monegasques, worry not.

Few clubs in Europe's top five leagues have offset the sale of a star player with the acquisitions of an emerging standout like Monaco, and there's no reason to think that the recently crowned French champ can't do it again.

Pricey philosophy swapped for resourceful reasoning

In December 2011, Monaco was languishing in the second tier, more than a decade removed from its last Ligue 1 title.

Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev had bought the team in hopes of returning it to its prior standing, and 18 months later, Monaco was promoted back to the top flight.

That promotion sparked a spending spree, with Rybolovlev bankrolling the influx of marquee players under the supervision of new president Vadim Vasilyev.

The expending of funds matched the club's opulent surroundings, with a combined €143 million spent in 2013-14 on James Rodriguez, Falcao, Joao Moutinho, Geoffrey Kondogbia, and Lacina Traore.

Related: Small country, big dreams: Why Monaco needs to stick with the kids

Despite finishing second that season to Paris Saint-Germain, Monaco and its now-celebrated tinkerer, Vasilyev, decided that the free-spending philosophy was unsustainable, and that changes were necessary.

With a celebrated, albeit regionally limited, academy, La Turbie, Monaco began promoting tomorrow's stars, and Leonardo Jardim was happy to play a part, promoting the likes of Layvin Kurzawa, Nampalys Mendy, Valere Germain, and, more recently, teen talent Kylian Mbappe.

And with the influx of youth came a slew of sales consistent with Monaco's new ethos. If an examination of recent examples is any proof, the principality lot will quickly replace the influential Silva.

A recent history of savvy sales and shrewd supplanting

When Monaco swapped its spendthrift ways for frugal investments, the first major exit was James Rodriguez, who the club sold to Real Madrid in June 2014 for €75 million - €30 million more than Monaco paid Porto for the Colombian attacker a year earlier.

Rodriguez was replaced by Bernardo Silva, who Vasilyev secured a move for with a modest €15.75 million from Benfica in January 2015. A year-and-a-half later, and Monaco has a Ligue 1 title and €35 million plus potential incentives to show for that investment.

Related: 3 tough choices talent-rich Monaco must make ahead of decisive summer

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Another brilliant example is Layvin Kurzawa. After promotion to the first team as a teenager, Kurzawa was sold to PSG for €25 million after Monaco was bounced from the Champions League qualifying stages.

He was replaced in 2016 by fellow left-back Benjamin Mendy, who is a better player at both ends of the pitch, and cost a now-laughable €13 million. Monaco could get more than twice that this summer, and with Silva's new side City short on full-backs, don't be surprised if Pep Guardiola tops up Rybolovlev's account again before the transfer window closes.

And there's more.

With the €36 million made on Kondogbia's sale to Inter, Monaco bought Fabinho from Rio Ave for €6 million. Let that one sink in for a moment, and Portuguese clubs, perhaps stop selling your best players to the principality for a few pennies on the dollar.

Anthony Martial, whose erratic Manchester United spell included a 25th goal that boosted his performance-related transfer fee to €51 million, was sold for €47 million more than Monaco paid Caen to snatch star winger Thomas Lemar. Vasilyev and Co. could get €45 million for Lemar this summer.

Monaco's savvy moves aren't limited to the attacking half, either, as Aymen Abdennour was sold to Valencia in 2015 for €22 million - the exact amount the club used to sign first-choice centre-back pairing Jemerson and Kamil Glik from Atletico Mineiro and Torino, respectively.

First-class future

With a Ligue 1 title and a deep Champions League run paired with the new standard for squad replenishment and profits, the future looks bright for Monaco.

Youri Tielemans' signing is a perfect example.

Related: Tielemans completes Monaco switch for reported €23M fee

The prodigious Belgian teen, who was reportedly coveted by Europe's biggest sides, was nabbed by Monaco earlier in the week for a modest €23 million fee. With Tielemans destined to play in a central role, Les Monegasques can now sell either Fabinho or Chelsea target Tiemoue Bakayoko for a fee that is likely to double what Anderlecht snatched for Tielemans. Smart business that.

When former PSG academy head Bertrand Reuzeau ditched the capital club for the Cote d'Azur in June, it signalled a youth movement that complied with Monaco's newfound thrifty ways.

Should Monaco be able to sustain this model, it will also continue to attract the continent's budding stars, and the proof is in the pudding. Just ask Reuzeau, who said recently: "When we speak to top talents they believe in our project because of the youth that is visible across the first team."