It shouldn’t feel like a coup to have a 15-year-old academy lad sign a scholarship at the club that has developed him since age eight, but there are few 15-year-olds like Jeremy Monga.
He’s one of the most talented players Leicester City’s academy has ever produced and his potential is huge. It had not gone unnoticed at the biggest clubs in England and abroad.
It’s commonplace now. The wealthiest teams, with their vast scouting networks and their well-manned data analysis departments, pilfer the best academy talents before they establish themselves in the senior sides of their hometown clubs.
They have the finances, a big-club reputation, and a desire to mould players their way. Luring players in their mid-teens is not too strenuous for them.
City have previously had a couple of players poached. Trey Nyoni, snapped up from City two summers ago when he was 16, has now played six senior matches for Liverpool.
Tyrese Noubissie, now captain of France Under-16s, left, aged 14, for Manchester City in the same summer.
With Monga, there was concern at the top of the club from as early as last autumn that they would not be able to stop one of the biggest sides from pinching him.
From the winter, whispers around the football world were that a move to Man City was as good as done.
At that point, it felt like any senior football City handed to Monga was necessarily in an attempt to convince him his future was best served at the King Power Stadium, but to potentially increase the fee if his compensation was to be decided by an FA tribunal.
But, instead, exposing Monga to the first-team environment and giving him opportunities has paid off.
While it took Ruud van Nistelrooy longer than some fans would have hoped to give Monga his break, only doing so after a change in approach when he figured relegation was inevitable, he did then consistently use the 15-year-old as a substitute.
Maybe he could have been braver and given him a start, possibly in the final game of the season, but it was a difficult balance to strike.
He may be ultra-talented, but he was still a 15-year-old taking his GCSEs. There was a possibility that the exposure could be overwhelming for him.
In the end, City offered him more first-team minutes than any 15-year-old ever has been in the Premier League era, and maybe that did help sway Monga.
There was a commitment from the club to show him he would be involved in the first team, and he’s responded with commitment of his own.
It means Monga will be in the City first-team squad next season. He might not be a regular starter, especially if Stephy Mavididi and Abdul Fatawu stick around, but he’s likely to be on the bench every match.
And in that case, he could play in every match. His ability in one-on-ones and his weight of pass make him the perfect player to bring on as a potential game-changer.
The deal, a scholarship that will lead into a professional contract once he turns 17 in July 2026, also guarantees City a decent fee.
Unless there is a release clause written into the contract, it means City will be able to hold out for a big fee that more accurately represents Monga’s talent and potential.
Southampton slapped a £100m valuation on their big talent Tyler Dibling. City could now do the same.
But the immediate benefit is that, rather than Monga disappearing into Man City’s academy next season, he will be gracing the King Power Stadium pitch, bringing excitement to a set of fans that have had very little over the past 12 months.
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Get your special Jamie Vardy edition of the Leicester Mercury
Jamie Vardy souvenir edition of the Leicester Mercury
It was certainly a fairytale ending to Jamie Vardy's Leicester City career - netting his 200th goal in his final match for the club.
To celebrate, we are launching a this special edition of the Leicester Mercury where we look back at the striker's amazing career - his journey from non-league to England international, his greatest goals and where he stands in the Foxes' list of all-time greats.
We also revisit the trophy-winning campaigns - the 2021 FA Cup and, of course, the 2016 Premier League title.
And there are plenty of tributes from those who played with him, against him and worked with him.
Jamie Vardy, it's certainly been a party!
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