Man City are two games away from academy landmark on way to proving boss wrong

Of the 16-player Manchester City under-23 squad who strolled past Everton 7-0 at the Etihad at the end of last season to life the Premier League 2 title, ten have departed the club this summer, or have progressed permanently to the first team.

As a result of such significant turnover, academy head coach Brian Barry-Murphy declared at the start of the season that winning a third-consecutive PL2 title this season 'won't happen'. Instead, he was more focussed on individual development, and giving the remaining players the best chance of getting noticed without the pressure of title expectations.

Yet after eight league games, City are joint-top and they are on the verge of progression in two cup competitions where they have previously struggled in recent years.

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Despite a 'golden generation' of players like Cole Palmer, James McAtee, Liam Delap, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Tommy Doyle, CJ Egan-Riley, Romeo Lavia and Sam Edozie, City's dominance in recent seasons has been restricted to the domestic academy scene.

The Blues have struggled in the UEFA Youth League, and have had differing fortunes in the EFL Trophy that pits academy sides against League One and Two first teams. Some of those struggles have been as a result of having key players called up by the City senior side at the same time as key fixtures for the academy. Pep Guardiola's side will always take priority at the club, even if it's at the expense of progress in important academy competitions.

So it's a credit that this season, the young Blues are two games away from reaching the Youth League and EFL Trophy knockout stages for the first time since 2018 and 2021 respectively. A point for