sport news Manchester City's academy is THRIVING as Southampton visit having spent £40m ... trends now
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 (R) 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 four City youngsters including Gavin Bazunu and Romeo Lavia 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 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
