Mahamadou Susoho: The Man City midfielder with ‘uncoachable’ skills who is learning from Rodri

Manchester City’s academy has established itself as England’s preeminent hub for emerging talent in recent years, with Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb the latest high-profile graduates who have helped to further the reputation that was started by Phil Foden.

The club have won national titles at Under-23 and Under-18 level in all of the last three years, and have become best-in-class educational centres for the next batch of footballers learning the game. But even the best schools can’t teach their pupils everything.

Midfielder Mahamadou Susoho is an example of that, and was the star of the show in City’s Uefa Youth League win over RB Leipzig on Tuesday, as the Blues secured top spot in the group and an automatic spot in the last-16.

“I think he’s got really some uncoachable things in terms of how he plays the game,” claimed lead youth-team coach Brain Barry-Murphy. “I think he has the natural exuberance that you associate with a creative, attacking player, but he can do the defensive side of the game. He came through the Espanyol academy and you can see those trends of high-quality, technical actions.”

Having endured a few injury-plagued years, Susoho, who joined City in 2017 and has been capped by Spain at underage level, is now making strides in the club’s elite development squad. It was his pass against Leipzig’s underage side that got City back on level terms and unpicked a defence which had stood robustly for over an hour. 

“He made the run before the ball came to me, the defender came to me and it had to be first time. If I would have taken a touch, they would have got the ball off me,” Susoho explained.

The 18-year-old predominantly played in the Under-18s before this season, but is enjoying the step up to a higher level this term. Susoho has experience facing senior sides after EFL Trophy appearances against Grimsby Town and Bradford City, and has played in four of five Youth League matches this season.

“These [Youth League matches] are the type of games I want to play in. These games motivate you more to show that City are the best club in the world. These games, you have the chance to prove yourself to the world and to the first-team manager that you can play in that environment.”

“I’m a very diverse player,” he added. “I can do both jobs on the pitch, defensively and on the ball. I think that helps the team a lot.”

“He is improving all the time,” opined Barry-Murphy, after Tuesday’s win over Leipzig. “But he has had a few interrupted seasons with injuries and you can see him starting to find his rhythm now and really go into himself and he is progressing well.

“I suppose the more games he plays at this level, the challenge is much higher than he’s faced before because he has played in the Under-18s where it’s not at the same level. Now he’s playing against better players and it will improve his game very quickly.”

The next step for the technically astute Spaniard? Learning the finer points of that pivotal role at the base of midfield. “I think it’s about understanding that the defensive side is so important in the role he is playing at this club,” explained Barry-Murphy. 

“We probably have the best version of the world in terms of Rodri and the players all look at him specifically. I think they watch a lot of his defensive understanding because he is always there to help the back four. That’s probably the bit that Mahamadou is developing the most.”

It’s not just City’s coach who thinks Rodri is the perfect role model, asked if Susoho sees the midfielder as inspiration, he replied: “Yeah, 100 percent. Not only for the games. I watch his clips to have an idea.

“Obviously when we train with him I watch him a lot to see what positions he takes up. The way he controls the game. We don’t really speak, I more just watch him from afar. I try and catch some of the things he does and add them to my game."