**Manchester City’s internal stance to progress the development of academy graduate Divine Mukasa has been outlined in a new report this week.**
Mukasa has been integrated into the Manchester City first-team in the backdrop of a breakthrough season in the academy, with the 18-year-old also impressing in his boyhood club’s 3-0 pre-season win over Palermo in Italy.
City are brought an array of academy talents into the first-team setup in the last three years, with Rico Lewis, Oscar Bobb, Nico O’Reilly and James Trafford regularly playing in the senior squad after rising through the youth ranks.
The Blues signed Trafford back from Burnley in July and have handed the trio of Bobb, Lewis and O’Reilly new deals in the last 18 months – underlying Pep Guardiola’s continuing trust in the City Football Academy after embedding Phil Foden into his side early into his Etihad Stadium tenure.
Manchester City have overly relied on Erling Haaland to shoulder the goalscoring responsibility in the first-team since the departure of Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid last summer, with goals from out wide and midfield also drying up for some time.
Haaland’s goals have played a huge role in Manchester City’s change of fortune since August, with the Blues avoiding defeat since their 2-1 loss to Brighton before the September international break and rising to fifth place in the Premier League after losing twice in their first three Premier League games of the season.
However, officials at the Etihad Stadium will be left worried over City’s growing reliance on Haaland and whether the same is sustainable over the course of the season as the Blues navigate a period of transition on and off the pitch.
Mukasa’s emergence gives Guardiola another option down the middle and despite the teenager’s inexperience, the impression he has made upon Manchester City’s coaching staff in first-team training will have instilled great confidence in his prospects in the senior team as the campaign progresses.
Guardiola is unlikely to lean on Mukasa greatly this term but the Manchester City academy graduate could be in for a more involved role in the first-team in cup competitions – when it will be crucial to give Haaland a well-earned rest given the responsibility lying with the 25-year-old Norway international on a regular basis.
[MailSport’s Nathan Salt](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-15180367/The-six-biggest-stars-England-19s-Arsenal-Chelsea-Wayne-Rooney-Pep-Guardiola.html?ico=authors_pagination_desktop) have reported that figures in youth football hold a belief that Mukasa’s development would be best served by a loan stint away from Manchester City – a growing trend at elite clubs for rising talents to leave their comfort zone and test themselves in senior football week-in, week-out to forge their own path.
Cardiff City expressed an interest in taking Mukasa on loan for the 2025-26 campaign in the summer but Guardiola’s desire to keep the London-born attacker close to the first-team ranks saw an approach swiftly turned down.
Phil Foden’s journey into the Manchester City first-team exemplifies what could be a similar route for Mukasa into the senior squad in the seasons to come – and there may not be a better compliment to a young player when Pep Guardiola outrightly refuses to allow you to leave on loan.