Stoke City's Josh Wilson-Esbrand and Bristol City's Scott Twine
Josh Wilson-Esbrand in action for Stoke City during a loan spell in 2025.(Image: PA)
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Josh Wilson-Esbrand has been handed a new role at Manchester City that has already included an appearance against his old club Stoke - and will see him at Port Vale tonight.
The left-back is still only 23 but he has become something of a forgotten man at Man City, who handed him a five-year contract back in 2022. He has made two Champions League and one League Cup appearance for his parent club but spent most of the rest of his career out on loan.
He had a spell at Coventry in 2022/23 before splitting the following season between Reims and Cardiff. He joined Stoke in January 2025 and featured in seven games as the Potters confirmed their Championship status on the final day of term. He then spent last year on loan at Radomiak Radom in Poland.
The expectation might have been that he would go out again in the summer transfer window to try to kickstart a career that will probably lie away from Man City but he ended up staying put.
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Man City could be preparing for life post-sanction in whatever division they find themselves or under a potential transfer embargo but, for now at least, Wilson-Esbrand has been left out of the squad they had to submit to the Premier League and cannot be involved in first team fixtures.
Instead he has joined their under-21s, starting a dramatic 4-3 comeback win over Stoke in Premier League 2 on Friday night. He is expected to start again in the EFL Trophy at Port Vale tonight.
Elite development squad manager Oli Reiss told the MEN: "He is top in terms of his standards and behaviours. He is part of our EDS and he will have minutes as much as possible. He will get minutes on Tuesday. It is a good stage for him to show how good he is and in the future we will see.
"He is not just performing in terms of training of 'the better I am the more minutes I get,' you can really see the way he behaves and how he talks to the others. I had a good conversation with him (last week) and he said 'I want to help all the younger players around me' and this is the top combination he shows at the moment."
Wilson-Esbrand came off the bench in Man City's opening EFL Trophy game at Mansfield, which they won 4-1, but missed the defeat at Chesterfield. They have to beat Vale to progress to the last 32.
Vale start the night in second, a point above Man City, while Chesterfield lead the way with five points ahead of their clash with a Mansfield side who have yet to get off the mark.
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