Man City have room in their squad for at least one wonderkid

Pep Guardiola made no secret of how impressed he was with Phil Foden after watching him in the first team for the first time.

The Manchester City manager pointed the 17-year-old out as a special talent after his performance in a friendly against United in Houston, and from then on it was clear that Foden had a route to the first team. Many in the club had expected it, but a performance on the pre-season tour had confirmed it all.

Not every young talent is as skilled as Foden, yet it has been striking during Guardiola's time at the club how significant the pre-season tour has been in bridging the gap between the academy and the first team. It is undoubtedly the best time of the year for promising hopefuls to leave a lasting impression on the manager, as has been shown almost every year since Foden.

When nearly all of City's senior stars were away at the World Cup in 2018, another 17-year-old was making his mark in the United States as Eric Garcia stepped up for City. The former Barcelona youngster had not exactly been tearing it up in the City academy, yet his performances up against players such as Mo Salah and Sadio Mane convinced the manager that he had a player capable of making his first team.

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A year later, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Tommy Doyle were two of the standouts in an otherwise chaotic tour of Asia. The homegrown pair would make their senior debuts in September and October respectively after showing the first team coaches that they belonged in the group.

The restrictions around the Covid pandemic put paid to any thoughts of travel in 2020, and as a result of limited movement young players who had gone home to different countries were not