One Aspect of Manchester City’s Franchise is Criminally Underrated
Image: Manchester City
MANCHESTER - When people think of Manchester City, they often think of their big-name stars and the money they spend. While Manchester City has bought their fair share of talented players, one aspect of Manchester City that often gets overlooked is the development of players in their academy.
For the U18s, Manchester City won the U18 Premier League, beating out West Ham in the final 2-1. Their captain, Nico O’Reilly, was their standout star this season, scoring scorpion-kick goals and providing backheel assists. He will hopefully continue to develop for Manchester City and move up to the first team.
Moreover, Manchester City’s Elite Development Squad (their U21 team) won their third straight Premier League 2 title, finishing 13 points above second placed Liverpool. However, it was the way in which they won it that should draw more attention. This past season, Manchester City had the youngest average age (18.4-years-old), scored the most goals (77) and provided the most assists (62) in the Premier League 2’s Division 1.
In terms of bright talents this season, Manchester City possess the Premier League 2’s reigning top goal scorer, Carlos Borges, who bagged 21 goals this season. They also have Adedire Mebude, who provided the most assists with 18, closely followed by Oscar Bobb and Carlos Borges.
Manchester City also has several first team players that graduated from their academy. One of the first names that comes to mind is Phil Foden. It wasn’t easy for Foden to cement his place in Guardiola’s starting lineup, but once established, there was no one taking his spot. This past season saw the integration of Rico Lewis into the first team. He only started 10 games, but he is set to start more games for the senior team next season.
Perhaps one of the biggest showings of Manchester City’s academy talents was in the U21 European Championship. In England’s 1-0 victory in the final, Cole Palmer, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, and James Trafford all showed up in big ways. Harwood-Bellis was England’s captain, Palmer provided the free kick that went off of Curtis Jones to give England the lead, and Trafford saved Spain’s last-gasp penalty attempt to retain England’s lead.
Although Manchester City will probably always be known for the superstars that they sign, their academy is an underrated force and will be for many years to come.
