CITY SPECIAL Celina: No shame in not making it at City
JADON Sancho and Brahim Diaz will continue to make headlines to show what City have missed.
But one former Blues academy product is quietly making his own name for himself after leaving for first team football.
Bersant Celina left the Etihad last summer after just four appearances and two year-long loan spells at FC Twente and Ipswich Town.
He joined Swansea - City’s FA Cup quarter-final opponents tomorrow - and says he has no issues with the Blues’ academy structure, even if he does not regret leaving for regular playing time.
“There’s no shame at all in not being able to make it at Manchester City” Celina said. “The standard is absolutely sky-high and it is so hard for young players to become established in the first team.
“I was at the club the same time as Diaz and Sancho and they were incredible players even then, but they left because they wanted to be -playing regularly and that was the same for me.”
Celina says the progression to the first team was limited by City’s quality, but he insisted his footballing education at the City Football Academy was not a waste.
He said: “When I played at the Blues, Manuel Pellegrini was manager and he gave me confidence to play. And, in training and matches with the first team players, I felt I belonged with them - I wasn’t out of place.
“They [Sancho and Diaz] believed in their talent, like I do, but it’s difficult for young players to get past established, great players like they have at City.” YOU have to give Pep Guardiola marks for consistency.
Here was the City manager, speaking after a 7-0 win at the Etihad had made for the second most dominant knockout tie in the history of the Champions League, once again talking down the chances of his side and talking up the teams they could yet face.
The trophy cabinets at Barcelona, Liverpool and Bayern Munich were mentioned with reverence, and there was a special mention for Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus after their second-leg heroics: “Real Madrid is out but Juventus are still there with Cristiano Ronaldo, who has gone there to win the Champions League,” he said.
“Juventus have brought Cristiano, they have all the pressure on his shoulders because unless he scores three goals then Atletico Madrid go through - that is the type of guy,