The glitz and glamour that this new TV deal has lent to the Premier League is palpable. When Crystal Palace can splash £30m+ on a striker and Watford feel inclined to reject £60m+ for their strikers, you know there’s something going on.
But behind that hype, we need to remember that football is not really what Florentino Perez thinks it is: it is about more than simply buying ‘galacticos’ like a 12 year-old managing PSG on Football Manager. It is also about creating a balanced squad that is hungry for success.
And part of that is giving young players their chance. One reason is that seeing a young talent progress gives everyone at the club a lift. Another is that it keeps players on their toes – you don’t want stagnating players believing that their position is safe until the next transfer window. It’s also a good way to keep youngsters hungry, and if you do, they might snap at their first team chance and shine.
So it shouldn’t just be new glamorous stars that Pep Guardiola looks to in his first season at City. It just so turns out that his academy sides are cleaning up in the youth leagues – and as first team boss, he’s in a position to pick the ripest fruit for his first team.
Here are five he should consider right from the start…
Kelechi Iheanacho
At the moment, Kelechi Iheanacho is to Manchester City what Marcus Rashford is to Manchester United. A golden boy. But he’s a golden boy used sparingly by City, in a way most young players should be – give them pressure, but don’t let it become too much for them.
City have quite a few midfield options, but when it comes to the striking role, Kelechi Iheanacho seems to be the obvious heir to Sergio Aguero – he was tipped by Manuel Pellegrini to be more of a number 10 than a 9, but his finishing ability and composure seems to have taken City by pleasant surprise.
Pep should use him frequently but sparingly this season to let him develop, but his first task should be to tell the youngster that he also has a right foot!
Jason Denayer
I suppose the term ‘academy graduate’ sort of depends on the year you actually graduated, but Jason Denayer returns to City this summer after loan spells abroad – last season at Galatasaray.
Gaining first team football at a relatively big club like the Turkish giants is important for young defenders, but with the Turks banned from European competition next season, perhaps another loan spell in Istanbul would be a bad idea for the Belgian international.
It might be time for Guardiola to bring the youngster into his City first team this season, and with the likes of Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi far from being the most convincing of defenders – though they’ll surely improve with the organisation and discipline of Pep – Denayer might fancy his chances of becoming a first team regular.
Tosin Adarabioyo
Another centre back that City could be looking to give some game time to this season is Tosin Adarabioyo. The youngster started in City’s defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup last season, but a heavy defeat against the then-Champions at Stamford Bridge is hardly the best place to judge him.
A better judgement might be that of City U18’s boss Jason Wilcox, who gave Adarabioyo the captaincy of the U18 side when the defender was just 16. The determination and will to win that the England youth international shows, coupled with his natural leadership skills mean he could well be the natural heir to Vincent Kompany’s armband some time down the line.
Aleix Garcia
If there’s one City youth team player who looks like a young Pep Guardiola on the pitch, it’s midfield general Aleix Garcia – even if, physically, he looks more like something from a medieval tapestry.
The young central midfielder looks every bit the young midfield general that Pep Guardiola was, keeping the ball moving and pulling the strings. His eye for a pass is matched only by its perfect execution, and if Pep is looking for a player who can fit right into a team filled with players who are comfortable on the ball, Garcia could be his man.
Brahim Diaz
Brahim Diaz is, without a doubt, the most exciting talent at City’s youth academy at the moment. That doesn’t meant to say he’s the best, necessarily, but certainly the most electrifying.
And that’s a quality that young players may need to have to progress further and break into a team as filled-up with stars as this City team is.
We know that Guardiola is not averse to giving untested youngsters their chance. The likes of Sergio Busquets and Pedro were given their chance by Guardiola. But the first thing Pep did when he took the reins of Barcelona’s first team was get rid of Deco and Ronaldinho in order to give Lionel Messi the responsibility.
At the moment, he’s too young to take that sort of mantle, but if Brahim Diaz can show Guardiola that he’s reliable enough to produce the football City fans know he’s capable of on a regular basis, don’t be surprised if Diaz gets a similar treatment in a few season’s time.
