Man City lose starlet to Liverpool as player confirms transfer move
Man City have been buying a lot of younger players recently but have now lost one of their most promising.
Every recruitment team will keep working looking at plans for both the long and short term. The transfer window being shut only means that plans for the next window get ramped up a notch and plans for even further ahead can also be addressed.
The transfer saga of the summer might have been Liverpool’s signing of Alexander Isak, however, Rio Ngumoha’s emergence as a potential star was confirmed when he scored a dramatic late winner on his debut at St James’ Park against Newcastle United. The goal made the 16-year old the club’s youngest goalscorer which left Chelsea even more upset about losing the England youth international. Young players moving between Premier League clubs usually ends in tears.
Man City lose academy starlet to Liverpool
Signing top players for the first team is one way to improve Man City’s chances of success, but UEFA regulations dictate that there has to be a core of homegrown and club trained players.
As long as a player has spent three years at the club between the age of 15-21 then they qualify which is one of the reasons why a move for one of the countries most talented youngsters has been made.
Confirming on Instagram, Man City starlet Lucas Alford has rubbed salt into the wounds by announcing his transfer to Liverpool having wore the captain’s armband at Under-16 level and will join the same age group at Anfield.
Capable of playing as a defensive playmaker or a more box-to-box midfielder, City won’t be happy about losing a player who they will have had high hopes for. What seems to have been at the centre of the switch is that Liverpool can point to Arne Slot giving youngsters a chance despite the money being spent, whilst the pathway at City tends to end with a series of loan moves before eventually leaving the Etihad.
What Guardiola has said about signing young players
Speaking in 2023, Guardiola suggested that a new direction was going to be taken by the club, unfortunately though, there haven’t been many signs of home grown players making the step up.
“It’s a key point. When you have changes, their age is important,” Guardiola told media at a press conference via City’s official website. “We can make one signing like Mateo [Kovacic] for example, but the other ones always we try to bring young, young, young players to make his career, to start his career and make his name in world football here. It’s really, really important because it’s a financial issue and also sporting. We would love to have, always still, all the legends here to still play but time passes for everyone.
“We bring Matheus [Nunes] and Josko [Gvardiol], Jeremy [Doku] and Oscar [Bobb] is with us and Rico [Lewis]. These types of players are really important. They are here training sessions, game by game, season on season and at the end they will feel ‘I can be here’ and this is incredible value for us. To replace teams as we have done two or three times already and still be consistent, it works. It talks for itself how good Txiki [Begiristain] and Ferran [Soriano] and all the people involved in the transfers and the decisions. It is really good.”
Signing young players is one thing, but they have to be developed too or else they will follow in the footsteps of Alford.