Manchester City have in the past been accused of signing some of the best available home-grown talent and then not fielding the players thereby condemning the players to less progressive careers
Here we look at how far true that is.
Firstly we clearly define what a home-grown player is
A home-grown player is defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the Season during which he turns 21).
The first of Manchester CityÂ’s young English signings was Adam Johnson
He signed from relegation riddled Middlesbrough at age 22
Initially he had a bit of difficulty adjusting but became a regular at the Etihad
Occasional England call-ups soon followed and Johnson looked a great prospect for the then present and future
In CityÂ’s dramatic title winning season, Johnson made 26 appearances scoring 6 goals in what turned out to be his last season at Manchester City
On the whole, he left a better player, became faster, more incisive and considerably lethal
He had the privilege of working with considerably renowned managers in Mark Hughes and Roberto Mancini
He definitely left Manchester City a better player both on and off the field.
Scott Sinclair signed from Swansea in 2012 for a fee of £8m and only made 11 appearances with 9 of them being from the bench
A loan spell at West Bromwich Albion in the next season did not yield much as it was riddled with injury
A return to City gave Sinclair two appearances for the whole season which left him with no choice but to leave
He then joined Aston Villa in January 2015 and has already scored more goals than the entirety of his stay at Manchester City
A look at his record at Swansea puts into perspective his time at City
In his last season at Swansea he played every league game managing to score 8 goals in a season where Swansea surpassed all expectations and started punching it out with the big boys
The former Chelsea player was thought to be a sparkling prospect and yet it all seemed to dissipate in his time at the Etihad
All that can be done now is to try and forge a recovery path as no doubt his development has gone more backwards than forwards.
In August 2012, Jack Rodwell left Everton for Manchester City after just making 14 appearances for the Toffees the previous season
Apparently the understanding was that the young Englishman would have an opportunity to challenge for a starting place and yet there just seemed to be better alternatives in his position
The English midfielder went on to make just 16 appearances for Manchester City with most of them being as a late substitute
The now Sunderland player regretted his time at City so much so that he has gone on to warn fellow young players against signing for big clubs unless they are absolutely sure of their quality and significance to the team.
It is pretty clear that these three guys got the raw deal in terms of their careers but is it really fair to blame Manchester City for their demise? Sure they offer hard-to-reject, seriously enticing contracts but it is ultimately the playerÂ’s decision to actually sign or not
Take a player like Raheem Sterling, young, talented, ambitious
He thinks he is good enough to play regularly for Manchester City and he was pretty keen to leave his old club
He likes his new salary and probably wants to win something
If he then finds himself failing to secure a starting place would it be the clubÂ’s fault? In signing he showed he trusts in his quality so if he fails to contend with the likes of David Silva and Yaya Toure it is his own making.
A player like Fabian Delph, captain of his boyhood club decided to move on to the Etihad
He had recently earned an England call-up and he probably knows he has to keep playing to stay in England contention
Whether he can make it into the team ahead of Kolarov and Navas only he knows and how well he does is all on him.
One does wonder how young Patrick Roberts plans to compete with the likes of Sergio Aguero, Wilfried Bony and Edin Dzeko
If his career sets off on a downward spiral due to lack of game time would it be fair to the Citizens?
On the whole, it really cannot be concluded that Manchester City are killing the talent but they are certainly doing enough to attract the young talents to the Etihad.
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Source: DSG