Five Man City wonderkids who failed to live up to their potential

Manchester City is a club that has handed some exceptional players a platform to achieve great things over the last decade or so.

But not every highly-touted youngster has achieved what was expected of them at the Etihad Stadium.

Here are five City wonderkids who ultimately failed to fulfil their potential.

John Guidetti was on City’s books for no fewer than seven years, but failed to start a single senior game for the club and was instead farmed out on a number of loan deals which took him to Burnley, Feyenoord, Stoke City and Celtic.

A prolific goalscorer at youth level for City, he never managed the step up.

Guidetti has carved out a respectable career for himself, enjoying moderate success in Spain with Celta Vigo and Alaves, with a brief loan move to Hannover in the Bundesliga in the January 2020 transfer window and also representing Sweden at international level 28 times, but it’s a long way from what many at City predicted he would achieve.

When the subject of failed English wonderkids is raised, Michael Johnson frequently gets a mention. The young midfielder burst through at the Etihad Stadium in the 2006/07 season as the most exciting homegrown talent Man City had produced in a generation. By 2012, though, Johnson’s career was over.

Injuries ravaged the midfielder. Compared to Michael Ballack and Roy Keane, Johnson picked up abdominal and knee injuries that proved too much to recover from. Released by City in 2012 after just four appearances in five years, Johnson’s case of unfulfilled potential is a particularly acute one.

In many ways, Nedum Onuoha is entitled to look back upon his Manchester City career with pride.

The defender made close to 100 appearances for the club over eight years, leaving having