Manchester City reaping the rewards of long-term investment in academy's young stars

Manchester’s City’s football factory is working at full capacity.

The production line of top talent envisaged when the Premier League champions revolutionised their youth academy back in 2013/14 is whirring away to the benefit of manager Pep Guardiola.

It has taken eight years of diligence, hard work, trial and error, and investment but the dividends are now there for all to see with almost £50 million ($60m) already added to the balance sheet this summer with the promise of more to come.

When City were purchased in 2008 by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, through the Abu Dhabi United Group, he set out his vision for the future pledging to bring success on the field and to nurture young talent.

The plan was based on youth development and sustainability, to educate talented young footballers on and off the pitch and to do so in a facility supported by the best coaches and coaching programmes.

When, after some years of research, the board - led by chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak - decided to spend upwards of £160m on a new infrastructure in the heart of East Manchester, it was with off-seasons like 2022 in mind.

They dreamt of summers in which some young players would be promoted to the first team setup and others sold on to pay for international star names.

Putting the men’s and women’s senior teams on the same campus as the juniors was part of a long-term vision to make City not just successful but also financially sustainable.

The facility, across the road from the Etihad Stadium and built on reclaimed land, was named the City Football Academy (CFA). It houses all the club’s playing and coaching staff, the vast majority of the office workers, and is home to the City