da heads bet： Pep Guardiola has been tasked by Manchester City bosses to bring more homegrown players into the Manchester City first-team. The manager will be taking a considerable look at the club’s academy as he aims to devlop the club’s next top star.
da realsbet： Guardiola doesn’t fear handing youth their opportunity as handed debuts to 22 youngsters during his time at Barcelona while he was happy to ditch the experience of players such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Deco and Yaya Toure to give an opportunity to emerging talent.
City have invested £200 million into the Etihad Campus in a bid to bring through their own youngsters, but so far there has been little impact on the first-team squad. Manuel Pellegrini failed to trust his youth players despite the majority of them being members of the club’s F.A. Youth Cup final along with winning last seasons under-18 Premier League.
These are five names that will be giving Guardiola food for thought in the upcoming months.
Angelino
For the best part of a decade, Manchester City have struggled to find a settled left-back capable of defending and attacking. Spaniard Angelino’s ability to bomb forward whilst not failing to neglect his defensive responsibilities may prove crucial as he looks to ask Guardiola a question regarding his future.
Both present left-backs Aleksandar Kolarov and Gael Clichy are nearing the end of their City careers and the youngster will be knocking on Guardiola’s door asking for his chance in the first-team.
Pablo Maffeo
19 year-old right-back Pablo Maffeo is widely considered by many as the club’s next top full-back. Maffeo who is represented by Pep’s brother Pere is set to be giving his chance in the coming months as the aging Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta near the end of their City careers.
Maffeo has drawn a lot of similarities to Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin. Should Maffeo remain patient, then his chance in the first-team won’t be long coming about.
Brahim Diaz
Every academy has a jewel in it’s crown and Brahim is undeniably City’s. No one has created as much buzz as the highly-skilled Spanish forward Brahim has since Daniel Sturridge was at the City academy.
Brahim has regularly caught the eye with his brilliant individual skill and breathtaking solo runs. There have been comparisons to Lionel Messi which have been quickly cut-short by City officials. The forward starred for the Spain U-17 side that reached the final of the European Championship in May and was involved in City’s Capital One Cup squad against Swansea City.
Aleix Garcia
If ever ther was a young player you would want Pep Guardiola to manage it would be Aleix Garcia. The Spanish central midfielder made his Premier League debut against Bournemouth on Saturday as his composure on the ball and desperation to be involved will see Guardiola have a selection headache in the coming weeks.
Garcia was signed from Villarreal as City aimed to emulate Guardiola’s style of play by securing the services of some of Europe’s hottest young players. Garcia has drawn similarities to Xabi Alonso as he continues to impress at youth level. Yaya Toure has been moved down the pecking order with Garcia replacing the legendary Ivorian.
Angus Gunn
Now that ‘Hart-Gate’ is over, the subject of City’s number two goalkeeper will become the club’s next goalkeeping issue. Willy Caballero is not favoured by Guardiola and his position in the squad will soon be up for grabs.
Gunn is a similar type of keeper to Claudio Bravo who is not fazed by having to use his feet to begin attacks. At 20, the England U21 international may be too young to be pushing to be first-choice just yet but he has the potential to be an excellent back-up for Bravo and challenge for the starting position over the next few seasons.
Guardiola would have seen him up close in a pre-season friendly against Borussia Dortmund where Gunn was the hero in a penalty shootout victory.