Vincent Kompany might have helped Man City find his natural successor

This season has seen excitement around Manchester City's young academy talents reach unprecedented levels.

It would be easy to see the remarkable rise of Phil Foden over the past couple of years as an exception to the rule, a generational talent defying the odds to find regular minutes in a team full of expensive imports. However, the impressive cameos Cole Palmer and James McAtee have enjoyed this term suggests that the well is far from running dry.

Palmer and McAtee are clearly following the Foden 'path' to stay at the club rather than going out on loan, learning from their senior teammates in training and waiting patiently for opportunities to come. Taylor Harwood-Bellis, another exceptionally talented academy graduate, is on a different path, but if anything he is the youngster whose promotion to Pep Guardiola's first-team squad might mean the most.

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The 20-year-old centre-back has been at City since he was just six years old, and since then has risen through the ranks. He made his first-team debut in September 2019 in a Carabao Cup tie against Preston North End, but unlike Foden, Palmer and McAtee, he's since sought a different path to professional football.

After impressing on loan at Blackburn Rovers last season, Harwood-Bellis linked up with former City captain Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht, a figure who has taught him so much as both a player and coach. In January he returned to the UK and joined Stoke on loan and he is currently thriving in the Championship.

This week the Stockport-born defender was named as captain of the England U21s, further indication that he is destined for great things. If he were to make it