Rather like its first team, Manchester City's academy is looking like the best in the world right now. City youngsters are so coveted that they are being sold for huge transfer fees despite having barely any experience with the first team.
The club have banked £156 million ($189m) in the last two summers alone on seven players from their academy, including Romeo Lavia, Carlos Borges, James Trafford and Cole Palmer. Palmer joined Chelsea for an astonishing £42.5m ($51.7m) in August despite having made just three Premier League starts, and he was the most experienced of all the academy players to depart.
But despite having a very high bar for youngsters to hurdle before getting into his first team, Pep Guardiola has proved that he will always give youth a chance if they impress him. He famously described Phil Foden as "the most talented player he has ever worked with" when the midfielder was just 19, and four years on he is one the most important players in his squad.
Guardiola also brought Rico Lewis into the first team last season, giving him huge responsibility in important games which led to the club handing the 18-year-old a bumper new contract. And now there is another young gem that he is blooding in the first team: Oscar Bobb.
The Norwegian was one of few academy players to go on City's pre-season tour of the Asia, and after an impressive run of performances in Japan and South Korea, he has been given his Premier League and Champions League debuts already this season.
GOAL profiles the latest talk of City's academy as he prepares to make his first start for Pep Guardiola's side in the Carabao Cup against Newcastle...
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