Man City academy shining after selling £170m worth of talent in summer

The kids are more than alright! Manchester City’s academy is THRIVING as Southampton visit the Etihad having spent £40m on four City academy starlets with their youth set-up aiming to be the ‘No 1 academy worldwide’, according to director Jason Wilcox

• Manchester City face Southampton at the Etihad on Saturday afternoon
• The Saints bought four City academy stars for more than £40m in the summer 
• After years of work, the academy is producing several talented young players
• Academy director Jason Wilcox says they aim to be the best academy worldwide

When cutting the ribbon on Manchester City’s new training complex in 2014, Khaldoon Al Mubarak made it abundantly clear that the academy needed work.

‘Today is not about celebrating the finish of something,’ the City chairman said. ‘The ultimate goal was not to build the City Football Academy – it was to make that vision for youth development a reality. The cornerstone of the future is a vision for youth development and sustainability.’

At that point, the last player to make an impact in the club’s first team was Daniel Sturridge. His debut had come seven years prior, and the striker quickly moved on to Chelsea. The concept of a thriving academy felt some way off.

Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak (right) opened the City Football Academy in 2014

Man City’s academy is thriving with academy director Jason Wilcox wanting it to become the ‘No 1 academy in sport, worldwide’

Southampton signed City youngsters including Gavin Bazunu (r) and Romeo Lavia (l) this year

Certainly the idea of having up to seven academy graduates on a pitch during a Premier League game seemed far-fetched at best. Yet on Saturday, Southampton arrive at the Etihad Stadium having spent more than £40million on four of City’s kids in one summer.

The quartet – Gavin Bazunu, Sam Edozie, Romeo Lavia and Juan Larios – did not have a single top flight appearance between them but the quality emanating from Jason Wilcox’s youth set-up at City is such that they are increasingly being recognised as the gold standard. 

And clearly worth paying for – Southampton also saw a £15m bid for striker Liam Delap rejected. Almost a third of a record-breaking transfer window, totalling revenues of around £170m, came from selling academy products. 

That, coupled with two more European debuts handed to Rico Lewis and Josh Wilson-Esbrand during the midweek demolition of FC Copenhagen, indicates to Wilcox that they are getting it right. 

In 2014, Daniel Sturridge was the last City youth product to make an impact on the first team

‘Our dream is to be revered as the No 1 academy in sport, worldwide,’ he told Sportsmail. ‘We’ve had a fantastic transfer window but we’ve got to make sure that we don’t dwell on it.

‘We had an all-staff meeting on Monday where I highlighted three big organisations – in mobile phones, video rentals and photography – that soon got knocked off their perch by taking their eye off the ball and stopped focusing on what is important.

‘I have the trust of the board, they believe in what we’re doing. We’ve got to push on. We’ve not reached where we want to get to. The next three to five years are going to be really exciting.’

The goal is to see more youngsters force their way into Pep Guardiola’s plans and Phil Foden will forever be the poster boy for that progression over the past few seasons. 

Phil Foden (left) is the poster boy for progression for City’s burgeoning academy set-up

Wilcox described the 22-year-old, from Stockport, as ‘the best young player in world football,’ and there is soon to be a lasting reminder of his legacy in the academy gym. Foden will be plastered across one huge wall as motivation for the next crop, replacing a picture of Sergio Aguero.

Cole Palmer has followed Foden’s lead and is now fully integrated into Guardiola’s squad. At least one Premier League club asked to take the tricky forward on loan this term but were met with a firm no. 

With seven substitute appearances this season, his progression is being managed in much the same way as Foden’s first steps into senior football.

Those around City believe there are more than a handful more who could break through over the next few years – the majority of whom are local. And they are used to winning, lifting the league titles at Under-23 and Under-18 level in both of the last two campaigns.

‘We want as many academy graduates as we possibly can in the team – that’s our aim,’ Wilcox added. ‘That is what we are here to do, and we should never be afraid of saying we’d love a team full of academy graduates. Is it going to happen? It’s very difficult.

Cole Palmer, 20, has followed Foden’s lead and is now fully integrated into Guardiola’s squad

‘But you see the emergence of Cole – Rico and Josh the other night – and it is an extremely exciting time. The manager doesn’t just give away appearances. Our academy has been criticised in the past for not having a pathway but when I look at the players being produced for the game, it is doing a fantastic job.’

It was also noticeable in England Under-21s’ recent victory over Germany that six City players were involved, including captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis. Five of those are out on loan, with high hopes that midfielder James McAtee can return from Sheffield United and impact Guardiola’s team.

‘This year is an interesting one: all of our scholars, apart from one, have come from local recruitment,’ Wilcox said. ‘That is something that has happened probably (partly) through Brexit, but we want the best talent. I’m never going to deny that we want the best talent in the country.

‘And we never lose sight of needing to produce for our first team. By setting the bar that high, they have to be world class. We have to know what world class looks like and work back from there. We’ve set aggressive targets but why not?’

Wilcox also referenced the development of staff at City, and clearly takes great pride in Joe Shields leaving to take up the head of recruitment post at St Mary’s earlier in the year. 

That switch, and Shields’ knowledge of City’s teenagers, has had an unquestionable bearing on transfer movement between the two clubs. Sam Fagbemi, who previously worked alongside Shields, has assumed his role and City reckon their recruitment team will continue as normal.

Several City youngsters including full-back Rico Lewis, 17, have featured so far this season 

Like Lewis, Josh Wilson-Esbrand made his Champions League debut against FC Copenhagen

‘We’ve spent a lot of time on recruiting staff and you get pleasure out of developing them as well as the players,’ the former Blackburn and Leeds winger said – reeling off names such as Enzo Maresca, Carlos Vicens and Rodolfo Borrel to have gone on to coach with Guardiola after the academy.

‘We’ve got some smart young people working for us who are more intelligent than me but are not as experienced. 

‘We are a school and a business combined – and in competitive sport. When you put that cocktail together, it’s really tough and demanding. You don’t get anywhere without great people and I’m fortunate enough to have those.’

Pointedly, those youngsters sold to Southampton all have buyback clauses in their contracts – so could yet play a part at City in the future. 

Lavia, out injured for Saturday’s game, is viewed as a future star and was actually the subject of a £40m bid from Chelsea weeks after joining Saints. Guardiola has admitted that the club thought long and hard about letting him go.

‘It’s my job to keep this thing going and that we don’t rest,’ Wilcox said. ‘Having an even better transfer window. The fact that we’ve sold to Premier League clubs makes us all extremely proud and excited. And gives us the drive for more.’

Bazunu has quickly established himself as first choice keeper at Southampton after his move

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