Manchester City are looking to change their approach to the academy set-up, according to the Manchester Evening News.
The City Football Academy has been used for over a year now and there have been a handful of young players who have made an impression in the first-team.
However there is only Kelechi Iheanacho who has been a regular member of the squad and despite his contributions, even he has not been a permanent fixture in the side.
City want to change that as they plan on having a squad that is half homegrown by 2021.
And they appear to be changing things up to achieve that goal and bridge the gap from youth level to first-team.
Under 18’s coach Jason Wilcox revealed some of the details when speaking to the MEN.
What we are going to do next season is go very young in both age groups. So next season we will have under-17s playing in an under-18s league and under-19s playing in the Under-21s league. And then after that we have to bridge [to the first team].
Since former Barcelona employees Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, it has been mentioned frequently that City are looking to replicate Barcelona’s model in terms of style of play and the emphasis on youth.
But Wilcox says that City are doing things their own way, despite influence from the Catalan side.
We’ve taken bits from the Barcelona model but it’s not the Barcelona model being put into Man City. We are taking a bit of everything and putting our own stamp on it too – so it’s now a case of what is Man City’s model.
Wilcox’s young charges take on Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup final first leg on Friday. Read Man City will be at the CFA for coverage.
