Do we see any academy products this year?
Manchester City is currently sitting on a gold mine of talent with their academy teams but it is time for the young players to come through and there needs to be something to be shown for the investment made in the academy.
There are three gems who the youth team is nurturing in Jadon Sancho, Brahim Diaz, and Phil Foden and they are just about ready to make it through to the first team. Brahim and Foden are currently with Manchester City touring America and Sancho is back in Manchester sorting out his contract situation. It is critical that City resigns him and bring him through. Foden and Brahim are closer to coming through than Sancho and it appears that they will be seeing game time this year. There is also a center-back prospect in Tosin Adarabioyo who just signed a new contract with the club in June. He isn’t as highly rated as the other three players but he has all the tools to become a first team center-back.
Sancho is a winger and, although he isn’t with the first team in preseason, he is close to breaking through. I don’t think we will see him in the first team this year because for one his contract situation isn’t resolved and there are rumours he could be leaving the club. If/when he stays, Sancho will be playing in cup games within two years and could become a key piece of the first team within four years.
Brahim is an attacking midfielder who has played on the right wing and as a false 9 at the EDS level. He is ready for first team action and should play in cup games and lower level Champions League games. Brahim is with the team on preseason and we should keep an eye on him to see how he looks and links up with other first team players. I expect him to begin to push Pep for opportunities and his versatility should do nothing but help his case because Pep values versatility and Brahim should be able to fill in a number of different spots, should the opportunity arise.
Tosin is a tall center-back and someone else who can begin to push for first team chances. He is on the preseason tour and during the first game he started with Vinny and looked fine. Given more opportunities in the first team he can grow and play alongside an experienced defender like Vinny will help him. Now that Kolarov got sold it appears Tosin is the fourth center -back and he should see game time throughout the season with players needing rest and players getting injured. I expect Tosin to grow tremendously throughout the year, given that City doesn’t sign another center-back, because he will get ample opportunity to grow and learn. I would like to see him play with Vinny the rest of the preseason because young center-backs can learn a tremendous amount playing with someone stable and experienced. If he plays well enough in preseason he could save the club some money and prove himself to be a worthy fourth option at center-back.
Now the prospect I’m most excited about, Phil Foden, or the Stockport Iniesta, whichever you prefer. Foden is a tremendous midfield prospect and impressed in his first game under Pep. Foden joined the team at the under 9’s and has been at the academy this whole time, growing and learning within the club. He grew up a City fan and being a local boy this is easily the most exciting youth player City has. Even Pep was so impressed with his performance that when reporters asked Pep what he thought of Foden he said: “I don’t have words…his performance was another level, for us, he’s a gift”. Pep went on saying “you (the reporters) are the lucky guys, believe me, you are the guys who saw the first game for Manchester City for this guy”. This was an incredible amount of praise for someone so young and inexperienced, Foden is 17 and has yet to play for the EDS. Foden’s performance warranted this praise and in the preseason Manchester Derby he looked fantastic and ran the midfield. For him to look so composed and standout shows how gifted he is considering he was so impressing in a midfield featuring De Bruyne, Toure, Pogba, and Herrera. Pep even referenced he could be with the first team this year saying “he will stay with us training with us in the preseason and maybe during the season staying with us.” Foden making it through will be a great sign to other Academy players that we aren’t Chelsea, we are a club that promotes from within and gives opportunities to those who impress and are ready. Needless to say, the future looks incredibly bright for this kid and he is someone that might even see league time this year.
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City’s Academy currently has some of the brightest young talents of any Premier League teams and these kids should be breaking through soon. These youth players are knocking on the door of the first team and with all the competitions City play in they should be getting game time this season. Youth team players coming through will help the club tremendously and provide cheaper alternatives than that of the ever inflating transfer market. There are some special talents that are ready this year and the preseason should be a good place for us to start watching these kids to see if they’re ready. Manchester City has some gems in the pipeline and the future looks bright as long as these kids get opportunities.