Football has not been the same in the 21st century where money has overshadowed the elegance of this beautiful game and lots of outfits have been transformed into football supergiants following some high profile takeovers that happened in past two decades.
Manchester City and Paris St Germain are the most notable names who are no more mere midtable clubs and have become lethal European forces since Middle East takeovers.
Although they have failed to promote youngsters due to high-spending transfer activities, both PSG and Man City established strong youth setups full of promising prodigies scouted from various top footballing nations.
One such talent is Claudio Gomes, the 17-year-old French midfielder, who has progressed through the Academy ranks of Paris St Germain. He has led his country in October’s FIFA U17 World Cup competition held in India.
France failed to progress beyond Round of 16 following a late heartbreak against Spain, but the Frenchman had notable outings in the middle of the park. Gomes has represented Les Bleus at U16s, U17s and currently captaining their U18 side.
He is known for his down the middle runs, striding forward from midfield to operate in advanced areas and loves to orchestrate moves in the final third. Also, he holds strong defensive ability and screens his backline masterly whenever required.
If the report from L’Equipe is believed to be true, English heavyweights, Manchester City have offered a ‘substantial amount’ for this decorated midfield prodigy. Although the player has not decided his future yet, a move might be on the cards if PSG agree to City’s approach.
Gomes, however, must analyze things rationally before taking his next career step. Man City have failed to promote their youngsters due to high-profile first-team regulars.
Olivier Ntcham, the 21-year-old Frenchman, is one of the unfortunate victims of their flawed youth policy who also joined City’s Academy ranks a few years back, had a loan spell in Serie A with Genoa, but eventually completed a permanent switch to Scottish champions Celtic FC this summer in search of regular minutes at senior level.
The likes of Aleix Garcia, Manu Garcia, Brandon Barker and Douglas Luiz, City’s promising starlets, are currently out on loan for senior game-time in their respective midfield roles.
Pep Guardiola, the current Manchester City boss, is lauded for nurturing youngsters but the competitiveness of Premier League football has not allowed him much to experiment with his squad and it looks extremely unlikely whether he will be able to promote them in near future.
PSG – the Ligue 1 runners-up, on the other hand, are favourites to reconquer the league throne from AS Monaco under Unai Emery who has handed first-team opportunities to his youngsters like Giovani Lo Celso and Christopher Nkunku despite the presence of high-profile midfielders like Marco Verratti, Thiago Motta, Adrien Rabiot and Javier Pastore.
Emery has trusted on young academy centre-back Presnel Kimpembe last season and is also handing him chances this term. Gomes thus will have a greater probability to break into PSG’s senior squad if he keeps on improving but a move to Manchester City might jeopardize his career growth for the time being.
