Fair to say, in the last decade or so, some ultra-talented players have come through Manchester City’s academy.
As noted by Miguel Delaney of the Independent, Cole Palmer, Roméo Lavia, Morgan Rogers and Liam Delap are all flourishing elsewhere in the Premier League right now, having either been sold or discarded by Man City as youngsters in recent seasons.
Rob Dawson of ESPN adds Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Jadon Sancho and Brahim Díaz to this list, while Sam Lee of the Athletic would include James Trafford, Gavin Bazunu, Sam Edozie, Juan Larios, Pedro Porro, Shea Charles and Tommy Doyle to those who’ve been sold for big fees.
So now, at a time when Man City have, as Jamie Jackson of the Guardian puts it, an “ageing squad”, they’ve sold off their best young talent, so are unable to refresh the team, but could the next generation of youngsters change that fact?
They’ll be looking towards Arsenal for inspiration, that’s for sure…
Ethan Nwaneri's amazing impact at Arsenal
During Sunday’s 5-1 demolition at the hands of Arsenal, Manchester City experienced first-hand the value of keeping your best young talent at the club and putting them in the first team when Ethan Nwaneri spanked home the fifth, really rubbing salt into the wounds.
A year ago, Football Insider reported that Man City actually attempted to sign Nwaneri, but Gooners everywhere are delighted that this did not come to pass.
That’s because the teenager has seven goals to his name this season, becoming the second-highest Arsenal scorer in history for goals scored at the age of 17 or younger, behind only John Radford, whose goals came in 1964/65, one shy of his tally of eight.
Nwaneri has earned rave reviews, with James McNicholas of the Athletic noting during a recent Arsecast Extra how extraordinary and unique it is for a 17-year-old to have a “trademark goal”.
He has also become only the third Premier League player to score seven or more goals before celebrating their 18th birthday, after Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney, both of whom were strikers, and both had pretty decent careers didn’t they?
Yousef Teclab of Breaking the Lines described Nwaneri as a “prodigious talent”, while Ali Tweedale in Opta’s The Analyst believes Arsenal supporters should be “very excited” about his talent.
So, could Pep Guardiola learn a thing or two from his former assistant when it comes to unleashing top teenage talents?
In The Pipeline
Football FanCast's In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.
Manchester City are brewing their own Ethan Nwaneri
As alluded to earlier, Manchester City have, as Neil Leigh puts it, quite the “conveyor belt” when it comes to academy talent, so could Reigan Heskey be the next cab off the rank?
Born in January 2008, we know, we feel old too, he joined Man City’s academy at the age of eight, and is the son of former Leicester, Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Emile Heskey, who won 62 caps for England, scoring seven goals.
Heskey junior has come in for rave reviews, with scout António Mango on Twitter stating he is “flourishing” and that his talent “can’t be ignored”, while Bix Williams, who writes about Man City’s Academy for Salford Now, states that it’s “only a matter of time before he makes that big jump”.
A winger by trade – like Nwaneri – the 17-year-old has been in phenomenal form this term notably scoring 20 goals in 24 games. So, let’s assess how Heskey and Nwaneri compare at youth level.
UEFA Youth League appearances
7
1
UEFA Youth League goals
3
1
EFL Trophy appearances
1
4
EFL Trophy goals
1
0
Premier League 2 appearances
3
24
Premier League 2 goals
3
11
FA Youth Cup appearances
3
7
FA Youth Cup goals
1
8
Under-18 Premier League appearances
16
16
Under-18 Premier League goals
13
7
As the table shows, Heskey compares favourably to Nwaneri for a lot of statistics, especially his output in this season’s UEFA Youth League, scoring a brace against Feyenoord as the Sky Blues reached the round of 32, set to face Midtjylland next week.
By the time he made his breakthrough at Arsenal, Nwaneri had much more PL2 experience than Heskey currently has, still predominantly plying his trade at U18 level, but it is clear that Man City have a hot prospect on their hands, one that they’ll have to give an opportunity to in the first team, or he’ll simply become just the latest player to leave.
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