Haven't watched the video yet, but will as soon as I have a chance. I always love listening to Lakey speak about City. He's invariably informed and interesting, but at the same time his genuine passion for the club always shines through. He's often truly inspiring.
I remember him being regularly linked in the media, before his injury, with other clubs. The rumoured fee was always well in excess of GBP 2 million, which was really big money in those days. Lakey himself has always said that he wouldn't ever have wished to leave, because playing for City was all he ever wanted. I don't doubt his sincerity, because he certainly loves the club. Nonetheless, such was the way MCFC was run at the time that I think we'd have needed to cash in at some point had he stayed fit.
However, I'm not sure he'd have gone to another English club. Italy was the top league by far back then, and offered salaries of maybe four or five times what the leading PL sides of the time could pay. If he'd fulfilled his potential, it doesn't seem fanciful to me to suggest that he'd have been comfortably good enough for an outfit such as Roma or Inter to have come in with an eyewatering bid.
He'd have been told by the club that he was helping City by generating a huge fee for us, while at the same time making himself financially secure for life and playing in the league where the global superstars of the era turned out. I think it would have been too good to turn down, so that's the fate that I suspect his injury denied him.
Oh, and whenever there used to be a thread on Paul Lake on here, there used to be a contrarian who'd pitch in with an opposing view of his merits as a player. No doubt he'll be along soon to explain how wrong we all are and why Lakey was just vastly overrated.
