Manchester City academy manager Ben Wilkinson has made a decision this summer that could go on to directly benefit Pep Guardiola’s first-team.
The Citizens’ academy has been in good form over the past 12 months, with both the Under-21s and the Under-18s winning silverware in the spring.
The U21s won a record-breaking fourth Premier League 2 title, while the U18s won the U18 Premier League North trophy.
Manchester City’s U21s have now made a superb start to their EFL Trophy campaign, which seems like a direct result of Ben Wilkinson’s decision.
Manchester City v Leeds United - FA Youth Cup Final
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Manchester City academy manager Ben Wilkinson organised multiple friendlies against men’s teams
Man City’s U21s could hardly have begun their EFL Trophy campaign any better, running out 5-1 winners over Oldham Athletic.
Ashton Muir and Mahamadou Sangare both scored braces, with Justin Oboavwoduo also getting on the scoresheet for the EDS.
More Man City News
Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News discussed City’s win along with Sangare’s impressive display in the game.
Bajkowski then noted how City had an ‘unusual’ pre-season in which all of their players were available.
This is because the senior team didn’t take any youngsters to the Club World Cup and only played one friendly.
City’s academy arranged ‘nearly 10 friendlies against men’s teams’, wrote Bajkowski.
The journalist reported that Wilkinson believed it would be useful for his youngsters to know what level they could be playing at either this season or in future years, along with the standards they need to meet if they are to do so.
Indeed, the results could be seen almost immediately on Tuesday night, with City’s youngsters comprehensively beating Oldham on their patch.
READ MORE: Ally McCoist says Pep Guardiola will have to completely change his tactics if Manchester City sign £43m player
Why Manchester City must follow Liverpool’s lead on academy graduates
The obvious benefit for any club in having a strong academy is that it produces superb youngsters who can then grow into first-team stars.
City have benefited from this in recent years, with Phil Foden becoming a star for club and country and a host of other players also becoming first-teamers.
The other benefit is that academy graduates can be sold for pure profit – however, City have not exactly impressed on this front.
City have often been too quick to sell some of their academy stars, as was the case with Cole Palmer, who has now become a star for Chelsea and England.
And though the Citizens are starting to include more buyback options and buyback clauses, there’s scope for them to follow Liverpool’s lead on the subject of academy graduates.
Liverpool have given considerable amounts of game time to plenty of academy graduates in recent years, which has honed their skills, increased their experience and put them in the shop window.
The outcome of this is that the Reds were able to sell Jarell Quansah, one of their fringe defenders, to Bayer Leverkusen for £35million.