Over the last few years, Manchester City have let plenty of academy players leave who could have made a real name for themselves in the first team. Two of those players have actually scored against them this season, and are a couple of the more prominent examples.
The first was Morgan Rogers, now at Aston Villa. He has been sensational under Unai Emery in recent weeks, with one of his highlights a goal against Pep Guardiola’s side in December. He never got the chance to show what he could do in City’s first team.
The other player is Brahim Diaz. The Real Madrid and Morocco international was on the scoresheet at the Etihad Stadium earlier in the season in the Champions League after impressing for Los Blancos over the past 18 months in particular.
However, perhaps the most famous example in recent seasons is Cole Palmer.
Cole Palmer's staggering rise since leaving Man City
There might never be a more frustrating sale in City’s recent history than that of Palmer. He joined Chelsea in the summer of 2023 for a fee of £42.5m, which has proven to be a bargain for the West Londoners.
Palmer has played 78 times for the club, scoring 39 times and grabbing 21 assists. One of those goals also came against City, in November 2023.
The England international scored a last-minute penalty to earn Chelsea a point, in a game that ended as an extraordinary 4-4 draw.
There is certainly an argument to be said that City never really gave Palmer the chances he deserved for his boyhood club.
He only played 41 times across four full seasons, and his 1,483 minutes for the club only equated to 16 full 90-minute games.
Although his form has been shaky of late – not scoring or assisting across his last ten matches – City must surely regret losing Palmer, who was a treble-winner with Guardiola’s side in 2022/23, his final season at the club. His overall impact at Chelsea has been second to none.
Incredibly, there was arguably an even more talented player than the Wythenshawe-born superstar in his age group.
The Man City academy star who was ahead of Palmer
City can boast a lot of academy talent who have gone on to do great things in professional football, either in the famous Sky Blue shirt or elsewhere.
Sadly, things haven’t quite worked out yet for Ben Knight.
The versatile attacker enjoyed several years in City’s academy and was part of a group filled with “exceptional talents”, as football talent scout Jacek Kulig described their U23s side back in 2021.
The Cambridge-born attacker left City in the summer, joining Spanish outfit Real Murcia on a free transfer. However, after playing just five times, he has since left the club and is now available on a free contract.
Knight represented City across age-group sides for several seasons. He arguably played his best football for their U21s, where he scored ten times and grabbed eight assists in 46 games, showing his versatility as an attacker, too. The former City academy star played right across the forward line.
Right-wing
14
6
3
Centre-forward
7
1
0
Attacking midfield
5
1
0
Left-wing
2
1
1
The attacker played 16 minutes for City’s first team, with his sole appearance coming against Leicester City in the Community Shield in 2021. That was also the final time he was involved in the same matchday squad as Palmer.
The City academy pair played 30 games together in total for City’s academy and England youth sides. Perhaps surprisingly, they never managed to combine for a goal, despite their threat in attack.
While they were in the same age group, it was actually Knight who made his U21s bow first, appearing as a 16-year-old in a Premier League 2 clash in September 2019. Palmer didn’t make his Premier League 2 debut until a year later, aged 17.
Unlike Palmer, things haven’t really worked out for Knight so far since leaving the Etihad Stadium. He has previously impressed on a loan spell with Crewe Alexandra – involved in four goals in ten games – and he will be hoping to reignite that form at his next club and get his career back on track.
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