Well, the title of this piece says Spain. Lets be clear though, all our young players in Spain are at FC Girona. Acquired by the City Group, the newly promoted La Liga side are currently fifth from bottom, after the opening seven games.
Currently with them from City are five players, including new summer signing, Douglas Luiz. In defense they have Pablo Maffeo, while Alex Garcia joins Luiz in midfield. Up front, trying to provide goals, are Marlos Moreno and Keyode.
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It all started so well for Girona too. A tied game at home against Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. That was followed up by a 1-0 victory against Malaga. Since then though, it’s been dire. No goals in the next four resulted in three defeats with a glimmer of hope coming away to Celta Vigo.
Statistically, the defender, Pablo Maffeo has had the better of the season so far. A total of 505 match minutes, including being the only one of the quintet to start in that six goal thriller. Keyode and Luiz would come on later, Luiz three minutes before the Girona equalizer.
It would be Maffeo too who would play just in front of the back four against Barcelona. Douglas Luiz also started on the left, causing a most of the limited problems Barca faced, including testing out Ter-Stegen in the goal down low to the left.
There is quite a difference in minutes played by the five. Alex Garcia has the next highest total pitch time, having played just under 200 minutes. Keyode and Luiz have been on the pitch for a total of 185 and 151 minutes respectively. Meanwhile Moreno is way behind with 12, after a lone substitute appearance. I am sure that as the season goes on, with games and injuries building up, these guys will start to show what they can do.
Certainly, Manchester City can have little complaints. None of those players would have similar or more minutes had they been kept in Manchester. At the acadamy would the level of sides they have faced be up there with the Atletico and Barcelona?
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Maffeo was on the pitch for the games, while others came on as substitutes. All were involved in the training in the build up for the games though. They would have been in and around the squad and that experience with the build up could be invaluable.
October certainly gets no easier for the side with the visit of Villarreal on Sunday 15th. After that they away to Deportivo before hosting Levante. October ends with the visit of Real Madrid, with three of their opposing sides currently in the top ten.