Man City outline development plans for Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and James McAtee

Manchester City academy head coach Brian Barry-Murphy has detailed how the club plan to utilise three of their brightest youngsters going forward.

City handed a Champions League debut to academy top scorer James McAtee this week, while striker Liam Delap was on the bench after a handful of first-team cameos in February.

If he was fit, Cole Palmer would likely have been involved in the Sporting fixture after being used in the group stages off the bench earlier in the competition. While there are others in the academy who have made the step up to the first team - like Luke Mbete, CJ Egan-Riley, Josh Wilson-Esbrand, Romeo Lavia, Sam Edozie and Kayky - the trio of Delap, Palmer and McAtee are the three most senior youngsters at the club.

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The trio are regulars in first-team training and will drop down to under-23 level to play if they are not needed by Pep Guardiola. Explaining the plan for each player going forward, Elite Development Squad head coach Barry-Murphy told BBC Radio Manchester : "It's a natural process. The players have certain experiences at first-team level, then once all the players are fit or Pep has the strongest team they naturally come to our environment.

"They get that feeling of having to be in their own age bracket. Some of the most significant learning in our environment has been the likes of James McAtee, Cole Palmer, very much seen as first-team players but coming back into our environment and seeing how they interact with our squad is amazing.

"That camaraderie between the groups, despite the size of the club, is something that's blown me away. How we retain that team spirit.

"Working with [Palmer] in a very