Pep Guardiola Continuing His Commitment to Developing Youth at Manchester City

A significant part of Pep Guardiola’s remit as Manchester City manager is to make the team more youthful and vibrant than it was before his arrival. Not only does he have to sign younger players to help bring the average age of the side down, which he has done this summer in a shrewd manner, he also has to bring young players through from the academy and turn them into first-team stars.

Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the City chairman, said as much in his post-season interview for the club’s website. “That’s one of the reasons why Pep was so highly considered,” he said. “He has done that with Barcelona, he has done that with Bayern Munich.

“Even with the abundance of talent he had with both first teams, Pep always has a knack for talent and he loves to find young players that have incredible talent.”

City’s transfer policy this summer has underlined the need to add younger players to their ranks. Oleksandr Zinchenko and Marlos Moreno have both signed and immediately been loaned out to continue their development elsewhere. John Stones, 22, is the club’s now annual big-money defensive signing. Leroy Sane, 20, and Gabriel Jesus, 19, two of the game’s brightest young stars, have also signed, although the Brazilian won’t link up with the squad until January. They have significantly changed the dynamic and makeup of the squad.

And on Wednesday, with City 5-0 up from the first leg in Romania, Guardiola chose a squad heavily supplemented by academy players to finish the play-off tie with Steaua Bucharest. City won the game 1-0 and completed the formality of qualifying for the group stage of this season’s Champions League, with 19-year-old Pablo Maffeo making his senior debut at right-back.

Kelechi Iheanacho, 19, made his first start under Guardiola and was superb before injury brought his night to a close, and Tosin Adarabioyo, 18, and Angelino, 19, came on as second-half substitutes. Even in a dead rubber, which this essentially was, that commitment to giving youngsters first-team experience would have been unlikely under former manager Manuel Pellegrini.

Far sterner tests than this lie in wait for those players, but they acquitted themselves superbly and gave further evidence of their ability to handle senior football.

Iheanacho is already established after playing 35 times last season and scoring 14 goals. Against Steaua, he was arguably City’s best player. Bright, quick, technically gifted—he gave the Bucharest back four a torrid time all evening.

He played a crucial part in the build-up to City’s goal, showing superb awareness to produce a first-time layoff into Jesus Navas’ path, before the Spaniard produced a fine cross to pick out Fabian Delph, who headed home his first Champions League goal. It’s the kind of unselfishness and impudence …

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