Aleix Garcia Can Be Flag-Bearer for Youth for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City

There were a multitude of reasons why Manchester City wanted Pep Guardiola as their new manager.

They had to work hard to get him—he’s the most coveted coach in the game—but their persistence paid off. They wanted his tactical acumen, his obsessive desire to win and his intensity in everything he does. They feel he gives the club the best possible chance of success, and on the evidence of what we’ve seen so far, with nine wins from nine games, it’s looking as though their faith was well-placed.

But they also wanted his ability to develop young players—to trust them and give them first-team opportunities. He did it with huge success at Barcelona, developing one of the finest teams in the history of the game with a core of young Catalan players at the heart of their success.

It’s a blueprint Txiki Begiristain, the club’s sporting director—who was part of the Barcelona setup when Guardiola was in charge—wants to replicate in Manchester.

City, with their state-of-the-art academy facility, are serious about youth development. But without a coach who believes in young players, it doesn’t matter how many Desso GrassMaster pitches or world-class gyms you have—you would never get youth prospects into the first team. Guardiola is seen as the answer to that problem.

In his first press conference as manager, he praised the City academy and the quality of the young players it has produced. “In a short time, we are working with nine or 10 players in the second team, and…I’m really impressed with their quality,” he said.

“I love to work with the young players. In Barcelona, I was lucky. I started in the second team, and when I was promoted to the first team, I knew all the players from the second and third teams. That helped me a lot.

“I knew when I spoke with Txiki [that City] have been working in the last few years very, very well. Chelsea and Manchester City are the best academies in that way and the way they play. They are both fighting to win titles in the academies.”

On Wednesday evening, in City’s EFL Cup third-round tie with Swansea City, Guardiola made nine changes to the side that beat Bournemouth on Saturday, putting together a team made up of youngsters and fringe players.

Aleix Garcia and Angelino came into his side for their first starts of the season, and Tosin Adarabioyo and Brahim Diaz were used from the bench. Could City finally be about to supplement their star-studded first-team squad with a batch of homegrown young players?

On the evidence of what we saw at …

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