5 Manchester City Youngsters to Watch in the UEFA Youth League

The U19 UEFA Youth League gets underway this week with the group stages of the competition replicating the format of the main draw. As such, Manchester City’s youngsters will travel to face their Bayern Munich counterparts on Wednesday hoping to kickstart their campaign with a win.

Under the stewardship of Patrick Vieira, the Blues impressed in last season’s inaugural competition, knocking six goals past Bayern on their way to the quarter-finals, before coming unstuck against eventual finalists Benfica.

They will be looking to go at least one step further this time around and here, I take a look at five City starlets on whom to keep an eye.

Angus Gunn

The son of former Scotland and Norwich stopper Bryan, Angus looks to be following in his father’s footsteps as he aims to carve out a career in the game. He is highly rated at City and after showing his quality last year throughout the Blues’ run to the final eight, he will be hoping to further his reputation.

Although an imposing presence at 6’ 5”, his strength is his shot-stopping, evidenced by his recent performance against West Ham in the Barclays U21 Premier League, when he single-handedly kept his side in the game with a string of athletic saves. Comfortable in playing out from the back, he fits the profile of a modern goalkeeper and with an inexperienced defence in front of him, he will have to be at his best if Vieira’s men are to progress from the group.

Angelino

At the age of only sixteen, competing against boys up to three years older than him, Angelino caught the eye in last season’s competition. He featured in all eight of City’s games and attracted attention, in particular, for his wicked delivery into the box from out wide.

He possesses the typical Spanish virtues of technical excellence and intelligent movement, and while he can at times be caught short at the back due to his fondness for bombing forward, he brings energy and competitive bite to the young Blues.

Jack Byrne

After impressing with his composure on the ball during the last campaign and at the start of this one, the Irishman made his debut recently for his country’s U21 side against Germany.

Although it won’t necessarily please City fans too much, comparisons about Byrne’s style of play have already been made with Paul Scholes for his ability to find space in a cluttered midfield area. While others are harried and pressed, he often seems to have time on the ball to pick a pass and he allies that quality with a combative nature than sparks his teammates into life.

Olivier Ntcham

A wildcard on this list, the enigmatic Frenchman has shown glimpses of his potential, but Patrick Vieira will look for greater consistency from his young countryman.

Physically, Ntcham will take some stopping and he has the strength that enables him to brush aside opponents with ease, but there have been occasional doubts about his attitude. He has a Yaya Touré-esque bulldozing style that can rescue a side from a poor performance and there were signs towards the back end of last season that he was just starting to marry his talent with the required application. Vieira will hope that improvement continues.

José Pozo

Captured from Real Madrid almost three years ago much to the dismay of the Spanish giants, Pozo sparkled early on at City, but a serious injury left him on the sidelines for an extended period. He is now back fit, however, and starting to show flashes of the form which first attracted the Blues.

He has mainly operated for City’s Elite Development Squad from a wide position in a 4-3-3 formation, but he is expected to act as the central striker in this competition. Nimble, tricky and with a low centre of gravity, he can drift past defenders in the manner of Sergio Aguero, yet he is also capable of drifting out of games and seeing the action pass him by. Nevertheless, he makes things happen on the ball and should he receive regular service, he will fancy his chances of firing City to success.

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