KILBANE: THERE IS A WAY TO BRING YOUNG TALENT THROUGH
WHEN I was 18 and trying to make my way at Preston North End, I was offered a 12-game summer contract with a club in Finland. To my regret, I turned it down without any thought. In my defence, the idea of leaving the North West to spend the close season in a foreign country, possibly even colder than home, simply did not appeal. I was apprehensive and it wasn’t as if hundreds of young players were queuing up to play in Finland at that time.
How times have changed. The mindset of young players, and their agents, has changed and they are prepared to contemplate a move abroad rather than end up on the scrapheap at 21.
If there is one downside to Pep Guardiola’s success at Manchester City, and the fact he can spend £55 million on a player like Riyad Mahrez, it is that the path to the City first team is narrowing for even the best academy players,
And young players are not afraid to go abroad to learn the game and gain experience, just as Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique left Barcelona at a young age to develop at Arsenal and Manchester United respectively.
In the past, players who have left England to pursue a career were well-established Premier League stars, like Gareth Bale who has been excellent at Real Madrid since his move from Tottenham Hotspur.
But I think more and more young players in England are prepared to look abroad. The Bundesliga is certainly taking advantage at the moment and picking up some exceptional talent.
Realistically, the chances of making it from the academy into the first team of a top six club is less than one per cent.
It’s hard enough at any club but you have to be very special to do it at the top level.
It is proven that it is unlikely a young player will go all the way from the academy to the first team at the big clubs now, and it is getting harder.
Of course there are exceptions. Phil Foden is trying to break into the City first team this season and Jurgen Klopp has promoted Trent Alexander-Arnold from the Under 23s to regular first team appearances at Liverpool, and now England caps.
Spaniard Brahim Diaz, a 19-yearold forward who joined City five years ago from his hometown club Malaga, got his first two goals for the club in their League Cup win over Fulham this week.
Diaz, who got five appearances under Guardiola two seasons ago, actually has a league winners’ medal but he is apparently stalling on a new deal. Real Madrid are among the interested clubs.
Or perhaps he will look to the Bundesliga where former City youngsters Jadon Sancho and Javairo Dilrosun are scoring goals and making headlines.
We know all about Sancho, who was called up by Gareth Southgate for the last England squad, after impressing at Borussia Dortmund who paid £8 million for him in the last transfer window.
The teenager, who is not lacking in confidence, turned down a contract last season and joined Dortmund and has already scored five goals for the current league leaders this season. Dutch winger Dilrosun joined former City midfielder Karim Renik at Hertha in the summer and has scored two goals,
When a young Irish player like City’s 18-yearold Tyreke Wilson makes the big decisions on his future, he might not be afraid to look beyond the Premier League and Championship but will consider moving abroad, particularly with former City players making such a good impression in Germany this season.
There are other young Irish lads in the big clubs. Conor Masterson made the Champions League bench for Liverpool last season and Troy Parrott, at just 16, has been scoring for Spurs’ youth teams.
What will they do to get gametime? Robbie Keane was good enough to get first team football for Wolves at an early age and made his Ireland debut at 17. If Parrott wants to get game-time when he is the same age, he is more likely to get that at Spurs, compared to say Chelsea or Manchester City.
It will be interesting to see if he will consider a loan move if it transpires and I would hope he won’t make my mistake and rule out a move abroad.