According to a report by Manchester City Evening News, Manchester City had invested a massive £200m in developing the City Football Academy which opened in 2014. The rise of Phil Foden proved that they made the right investment.
The 20-year-old has established himself as a key player in the starting XI and impressed Guardiola so much that they now deny selling him at any cost. With the quality of academy players undoubtedly increasing, others would soon follow in Foden’s footsteps.
Which Manchester City Academy Youngsters Could Make The Leap To First Team Squad?
Cole Palmer, James McAtee and CJ Egan-Riley impressed Guardiola with their first-team cameos this season, while Liam Delap certainly has a bright future even though he had an injury-plagued campaign.
Cole Palmer
Despite being regarded as not making an impact in Pep Guardiola’s squad in the previous seasons, he emerged to prove his quality this season. He managed to make the most out of his appearances scoring 3 goals in all three cup competitions this term.
With Gabriel Jesus looking likely to move away and Julian Alvarez needing substantial time to adapt to Premier League football, Palmer would most certainly be given more minutes to impress in the right-wing next season.
James McAtee
The 19-year-old has made a profound impact in the Premier League 2 this season, scoring 17 goals and providing seven assists over 22 appearances. He will be looking for more regular minutes should he join the first-team squad, but with Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne in the scheme of things, it is unlikely for him to play in his preferred position. However, Guardiola would make sure to keep him in the squad next season allowing him to train with them to grow further since he’s one of the most priced assets of the Sky Blues.
CJ Egan-Riley
The 19-year-old right-back went on to impress as he featured in the thrashing of Wycombe last year. He also made his first Premier League debut in the astounding 5-0 win against Newcastle United this season. If City do not buy a right-back this summer then Egan Riley could prove to be a quality understudy for Kyle Walker over the coming years.
Liam Delap
Delap gave an outstanding performance when he debuted back in 2020, finding the back of the net and announcing himself as an upcoming talent. He clearly had the chance to impress Guardiola with no out-and-out striker being under City’s possession. However, he has failed to grab hold of the opportunity due to an injury setback which left him with just 3 appearances summing up to 26 minutes of senior football.
Despite falling victim to injuries he is no doubt an emerging talent and can do well on a loan spell next season since the arrival of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez clearly threatens his development at the Etihad club.
(Stats via Whoscored)
