Chairman revises stance on academy graduates at Blues

KHALDOON al Mubarak has outlined his more realistic ambitions for City’s multi-million pound academy.

City’s chairman – who last year declared a desire to see ‘at least a player, if not two’ progress to the first team each season – has now softened that stance.

Pep Guardiola promoted teenager Phil Foden to his senior squad in their Premier League title-winning campaign this year, but ahead of a summer when he plans to spend £120m on Riyad Mahrez and Jorginho, competition for places will get even more fierce.

Al Mubarak had previously insisted City would make room for their most promising emerging talent from the academy. But he insists City they must be realistic about their expectations.

“This is the important thing we have to emphasise here,” he said. “When you invest in an academy like the one we’ve invested in, obviously the aspiration is to produce players for Manchester City for the first team.

“But at the end of the day there are going to be many players coming out of that system not every one is going to make it.

“The aspiration is that you will be producing players at a certain quality that even if they do not make it at Manchester City they are going to make it at a high level in different leagues within Europe and within the world, and they will be able to bring in an attractive investment return to continue to support the development of the academy and the first team.”

That represents a significantly more pragmatic approach to the ambitions Al Mubarak set out last year.

“I’d like at least a player, if not two, playing and competing at the first team level from the academy every year,” he said 12 months ago. “There will be different paths, but the end result is how are we going to get these young men to be part of our first team.”

One of City’s most celebrated products, Jadon Sancho, opted for a move to Borussia Dortmund last summer after growing impatient at the Etihad.

Centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo rejected a move to Everton, but made only four appearances and didn’t play a single minute of Premier League football.

Following the club record signing of Aymeric Laporte, his chances of regular first-team action look increasingly slim.

Guardiola has voiced his own reservations about being able to tap into the talent coming through the ranks, due to the lack of competitive reserve team football.

“I would like to (use them) but the second teams in Spain, Barcelona, Madrid, they are playing in front of 40,000 people and every weekend is a second league in Germany, Spain Italy – it is so tough,” he said.

“That is the best way to improve, not training with the first team sometimes. Here, they don’t compete.”

Khaldoon now accepts players may need to go elsewhere to fully develop and has not ruled out the prospect buying them back at a later date.

“We’ve learned,” he told CityTV. “I think now there is a tremendous understanding of what works best for us.

“Today there are points where you are better off selling a player than continuously loaning them out. That produces a better outcome for both the player and the club.

“At the same time being intelligent about how we structure these transactions when we are selling players.

“We have a clear buy-back if the player performs to a certain level and becomes suitable for City.”