One Manchester City academy graduate is expected to produce “big things” over the coming months as he’s introduced into the Citizens’ first-team.
Pep Guardiola’s assistant Juan Lillo believes academy prospect Oscar Bobb is starting to show his true potential which has rewarded the Norwegian with the chance to play in the Premier League.
The Sky Blues have invested heavily in their academy recruiting players from all over England as well as branching out to other European youth systems.
The seven-time champions have recorded very high profits for their wonderkids over the last couple of years, with Bobb managing to keep his place in Guardiola’s squad despite a clear-out.
What did Lillo say about Bobb?
After City's recent thrashing of Fulham, where the 20-year-old came off the bench to enjoy his senior Premier League debut, Lillo hyped up the rising starlet.
He said:
“We have great expectations for Oscar. He’s won his place in the squad through his talent.
“He's a very alive player on the pitch, he’s very daring and he’s someone who can play on the inside and outside. We just need to be calm, we need to give him his time and he also has to be patient and give himself that time.
“But it's another great player that we’ve got who’s come from the Academy and we expect big things.”
What academy graduates have Man City recently sold?
Over the last two seasons, Man City have made over £120m in sales from selling players who have graduated from their academy.
The most expensive of these sales is Cole Palmer who set back Chelsea a reported £40m for the 21-year-old according to Transfermarkt. The English attacker only played 41 times for Manchester City, so the European champions will be very happy with the price they negotiated with Chelsea.
Southampton have expressed their love for players from the Manchester club with the Saints having signed five players in the two seasons from the seven-time FA Cup winners.
The most prominent of those signings was Romeo Lavia who moved to St.Mary's Stadium for a reported £14m, the Belgium defensive midfielder now finds himself at Chelsea after a long battle with Liverpool for his signature this summer.
Name Club Price as per Transfermarkt Cole Palmer Chelsea £40m Shea Charles Southampton £10m James Trafford Burnley £14.7m Carlos Borges Ajax £11.9m Arijanet Muric Burnley £2.5m Romeo Lavia Southampton £19m Gavin Bazunu Southampton £11.9m Samuel Edozie Southampton £6.8m Juan Larios Southampton £5.9m Darko Gyabi Leeds United £4.9m Total £127.6m Who is Oscar Bobb?
Bobb has been at City since 2019 when he joined as a scholar from Norwegian outfit Vålerenga.
The skilful winger has since worked his way up through the Sky Blues’ academy system playing on both flanks as well as being able to be deployed as a creative central midfielder.
Last season in the Premier League's U21 division, Bobb set the league alight scoring six and assisting 16 times (second most in the league) in just 25 games.
The Norway U21 international’s eye for a pass and electric place caught the eye of Guardiola which has resulted in the City’s number 52 being introduced into the first-team.
Despite his debut on the right flank, it's unlikely that the young assisting machine will feature heavily in Guardiola’s dominant Premier League side as the 20-year-old faces stiff competition from the likes of Bernardo Silva, Jérémy Doku and Jack Grealish for a place in the starting XI.
But the early signs are positive that the Spaniard has another up-and-coming sensation on his hands at the Etihad Stadium, given the evidence above.