Manchester City have had extraordinary success since being taken over by the City Football Group in 2008, and they have well-and-truly become the dominant force within the English game over these last two seasons under Pep Guardiola. One thing we’re yet to really see at the Etihad though, and the Citizens certainly aren’t alone in this in terms of the Premier League’s top clubs, is a tangible route from the youth team setup into the first team.
Phil Foden is the only one to really do it in recent times, and the 19-year-old has made 36 appearances for his boyhood club to date. That’s not to say Man City aren’t producing players though, the talent has certainly been there since the club constructed probably the finest youth and training facilities on the planet.
It is a bit of a catch-22 for Pep Guardiola. Develop these players in their own team and they will drop points and most likely be less successful in the short-term. Don’t play them, and they will inevitably want to leave. We made this video since I think a lot of people aren’t aware of some of the players to have come out of Man City’s academy in recent times, and as such, we’ve tried to focus on more recent graduates.
Here are 7 incredible academy players Manchester City let go:
7. Denis Suarez
We didn’t see much of Denis Suarez on-loan at Arsenal last season, just six appearances in fact, but the 25-year-old midfielder is a talent. Unfortunately for him, there are few teams with more competitive midfields than Barcelona, and that is the club he left Man City to join in 2013. Suarez had played just two games for Man City, both in the League Cup, when Barca bought him for around £1.5 million at the age of 19.
A couple of years later, they themselves sold him for over £2 million to Villarreal, before buying him back 12 months later for just shy of £3 million. He was a regular during the 2016-17 season, registering 36 appearances at the Camp Nou, followed by 27 the season after that. Last season he found opportunities to be at a premium, and his loan move to Arsenal ended prematurely through injury.
A really classy Spanish playmaker at his best, Suarez is good on the ball and he has a wonderful eye for a pass. He’d still struggle for game time in the Man City midfield, which is packed full of class, but he makes this seven as a Spanish international and two-time title winner in Catalonia.
6. Karim Rekik
Mitchell Weiser (L) of Leverkusen tackles Karim Rekik of Berlin during the Bundesliga match between Hertha BSC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Olympiastadion on May 18, 2019 in Berlin, Germany.
Netherlands international centre-back Karim Rekik was at Man City from the age of 16 to 20, during which time he made three appearances, just one coming in the Premier League. He impressed during a two-year loan spell at PSV, winning his first cap for the Netherlands, and that convinced Marseille to take the 20-year-old off Manchester City’s hands for a sum of €5 million.
Two years and 46 appearances later, he was on the move again, this time to his current club Hertha Berlin. Still only 24, Rekik has plenty of room to improve, as he often looks a little rash and hot-headed. The fundamentals are there though, he’s a strong tackler, a formidable man marker and a good athlete. If he can cut out the silliness and iron out some of the deficiencies in his game, he’ll be a very good centre-back.
5. Jason Denayer
We’re sticking with centre-backs in fifth, and Jason Denayer was long considered one of Man City’s brightest young graduates. A much more level-headed character, Denayer is quick, strong, alert, good on the ball and a force in the tackle. His first loan spell away from the Etihad at Celtic as a teenager was a roaring success, and Celtic were desperate to sign the Belgian, but Man City had other ideas.
He was sent on-loan to Galatasaray the following season, then Sunderland and Galatasaray again. In truth, those three loan moves probably weren’t ideal for Denayer’s development, and more settled surroundings probably would have done him a world of good. Manchester City decided that he no longer had a future at the club last summer, but Denayer still had enough pedigree for Lyon to sign him up for €6.5 million.
He had an excellent debut campaign, and don’t be surprised to see the 23-year-old make a big money return to the Premier League one day.
4. Brahim Diaz
Brahim Diaz of Real Madrid controls the ball during the La Liga match between Real Madrid CF and Real Betis Balompie at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on May 19, 2019 in Madrid, Spain.
One of Man City’s most high-profile academy graduates, Brahim Diaz did get a little bit more first team exposure than most of the others in this seven. The Spanish under-21 international was included in a number of matchday squads alongside Phil Foden, and he registered a total of 15 appearances in all competitions. There was mounting speculation surrounding his future last season though, since Diaz’s contract was set to run out this summer.
In the end, Man City took the money and ran, with the money coming in the form of an initial £15.5 million and a potential £22 million from Real Madrid. The 19-year-old made 11 appearances in his first half season in the Spanish capital, as Los Blancos look to freshen up what threatened to become an ageing squad.
Again, Diaz is primarily a number ten, which is just about the most competitive position in Pep Guardiola’s starting XI. He does have enormous potential though, and should Real come to sell him, Man City will pocket a 15% sell-on fee, or 40% if he were to join Manchester United.
3. David Brooks
It’s a little known fact, since David Brooks made his name with Sheffield United, that he actually began his footballing education at Man City. The Warrington-born Welsh international joined the Manchester City academy at the age of 7, but he left on a free for Sheffield United ten years later. With a slight frame and a real baby face, it took Brooks until the 2017-18 season to get regular game time with the Blades.
When it came though, his talent was there for all to see, and Eddie Howe brought him to Bournemouth for £10 million with just a single season of football under his belt. That now looks a bargain. The 21-year-old had a fine debut campaign on the south coast, scoring 7 goals and making 5 assists from 27 starts in the Premier League, an output which saw him nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
Brooks can play either through the middle or wide on the right, positions where Man City are drowning in quality, but he’s still a fantastic little footballer who you’d imagine would get opportunities when Guardiola rotated his squad were he at the Etihad now.
2. Rony Lopes
Rony Lopes of Monaco during the Ligue 1 match between Monaco and Amiens at Stade Louis II on May 18, 2019 in Monaco, Monaco.
Brazilian-born Portuguese international Rony Lopes was part of the youth setup at Man City from the age of 15 to 19, during which time he made 5 appearances and became the clubs youngest ever goal scorer just 9 days after his 17th birthday. Quick, direct and diminutive, Lopes can play out wide on either flank or through the middle.
He left the Etihad to join Monaco for £9 million in 2015, and after a bright season on-loan with Lille, he was sensational for his parent club in the 2017-18 season. He scored 17 goals and was called up to the Portugal squad, as rumours emerged of a transfer to Lazio or a potential return to the Etihad.
Neither materialised, and Lopes has had a really difficult follow-up campaign. He needs a good pre-season under his belt and to come back in a big way next season, but there’s no doubt that he has the tools to be a top class player, and he’s still only 23.
0. Honourable Mentions
As I said in the intro, I tried to go with recent academy graduates since they were a bit more relevant to the theme of the video. If you go back a little further, Man City also let Leicester City’s title-winning number Kasper Schmeichel, England’s 2018 World Cup star Kieran Trippier and injury-prone Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge depart having all come through their youth ranks, although Sturridge’s decision to leave was more down to him than the club.
We could also mention dependable Burnley centre-back Ben Mee, who took the same route from the Man City youth team to the Burnley first team as Trippier, and is unlucky not to have been capped by England himself. In terms of more recent departures, £13.5 million Southampton signing Angus Gunn may be the outstanding candidate, although the Citizens certainly made the Saints pay to take the young goalkeeper off their hands.
Right, I’d be surprised if you don’t already know who it is, but here is your top spot…
1. Jadon Sancho
Jadon Sancho of England controls the ball during the UEFA Nations League Third Place Playoff match between Switzerland and England at Estadio D. Afonso Henriques on June 9, 2019 in…
Whilst all seven of the players featured in this video are incredibly talented, Jadon Sancho is the one who you look at and say he would probably stand a decent chance of starting for Man City were he at the club right now. That is some praise, when you think that the club have the likes of Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva for choice in the wide areas.
Sancho is such a natural talent though. He’s fearless, full of tricks, and crucially, he has no lack of end product. As a fan, you can’t put a price on a footballer who makes you sit up and expect something to happen every time they get the ball. As a club, apparently you can, with Borussia Dortmund demanding £100 million for the 19-year-old who they signed from Man City for just £8 million two years ago.
Sancho was very highly rated at the Etihad, but he wanted first team football at 17 and Pep Guardiola couldn’t grant it. Borussia Dortmund could, and after a season bedding in, he was majestic last season. He topped the Bundesliga assist charts with 14, he scored 12 goals and he had the most successful dribbles in the league. He’s already won 6 caps for England, and he’d be starting every game along with Raheem Sterling if it was up to me.
As a bit of fun, we also had a look at what a dream XI of academy players let go by Man City might look like, and here it is. In goal, we’ve gone for Kasper Schmeichel over Angus Gunn, Kieran Trippier starts at right-back, it’s a solid centre-back partnership made up of Ben Mee and Jason Denayer, with Karim Rekik – who is comfortable at full-back – starting at left-back.
In midfield, we’re lacking an enforcer or defensive midfielder but certainly not technique or invention, with Denis Suarez and Brahim Diaz as our two central midfielders. There’s tremendous strength in the wide areas with Jadon Sancho and Rony Lopes, whilst Bournemouth star David Brooks plays just off Daniel Sturridge who starts at centre-forward.
I think you’d agree that’s not a bad looking XI, and that doesn’t include academy players still at the club like Phil Foden. Throw in a half-decent midfield sitter and you’re probably looking at a top half Premier League team, well, until Daniel Sturridge pulls up lane and you have to stick Ched Evans up top that is.
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