In Brahim Diaz, Manchester City Are Reaping the Reward of Investment in Youth

It is not just Manchester United supporters who stare with raw, green envy at Manchester City’s incredible new Etihad Campus; the rest of the Premier League, no, the rest of the world do it, too.

There is no place on the planet better equipped to nurture the development of young players both on and off the field. The facilities, as you will have doubtless heard, are unrivalled in their quality and quantity, with a ridiculous 16 football pitches and six swimming pools simply the tip of a rather expensive iceberg.

The primary intention of Manchester City was to begin snatching the most impressive young footballers in the surrounding areas from United’s grasp. For too long, they felt, Sir Alex Ferguson had had his pick of the finest, with City left to sift through the scraps and salvage what they could. Sheikh Mansour, understandably, wanted his own iteration of the Class of ’92.

While the calibre of player in City’s academy has no doubt increased since the opening of the campus—not just because of greater pulling power in youth recruitment networks, but also because every player’s metaphorical ceiling has been lifted due to enhanced coaching, medical treatment and education—the quality of the imports has dramatically risen, too. They have the overseas allure that United boasted when they poached Paul Pogba from Le Havre (among many others).

And so, enter Brahim Diaz: a player City very likely wouldn’t have been able to entice five years ago. The 16-year-old was fast-tracked into the under-18s this season and has made waves every time he has taken to the pitch for Jason Wilcox’s side; there are extremely high hopes for the young Spaniard.

Since August, it’s been all-action for him; he’s been a regular for the under-18s, developed a reputation as one of, if not the most exciting prospect in City’s ranks and become a firm part of Spain’s under-17 setup. 

He’ll very likely contest the Under-17 European Championships under Santi Denia’s tutelage this summer. The significance of this cannot and should not be overlooked: the Spanish Football Federation broke their own rules in order to include him, as typically speaking, youth players outside of Spain aren’t considered for selection.

During his short time in the Manchester limelight, he’s …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com