Manchester City is one of the clubs with the most effective academies in Europe today. However, as the Citizens wander from one defeat to another in an unprecedented recession, it is their departed team Cole Palmer, Michael Olise, Morgan Rogers and many others who are adding to the misery at the Etihad.
Man City will certainly plan to make transfers in January to find solutions to their growing problems. However, there is a reality that they have inherently found answers but are not alert enough to keep them.
Man City, the first team in English football history to win their fourth consecutive championship last season, have now lost 9 of their last 12 matches in all competitions. They are seventh in the Premier League, 12 points behind leaders Liverpool and are also likely to be eliminated in the Champions League.
As Pep Guardiola tries to find a way out of the worst days of his coaching career, his students are getting older. Ilkay Gundogan (34 years old), Kevin De Bruyne (33), Kyle Walker (34), Bernardo Silva (30) and John Stones (30) are all starting to show signs of age.
Rogers issued a painful reminder of what Man City have lost in recent years. The Aston Villa striker scored the decisive goal to make his former team suffer a 1-2 defeat. The Citizens' former students have now started their fight against the club at the right time when they were supposed to provide the foundation for a new phase of success at the Etihad.
Rogers is like Palmer, who was discovered and honed at Man City's academy as a young player. In addition, there are many other cases such as Bayern Munich's Olise, Brahim Diaz of Real Madrid, Pedro Porro of Tottenham, Liam Delap of Ipswich Town or Felix Nmecha of Dortmund.
All of the above deals appeared during Guardiola's time as coach at the Etihad.
With a large investment, Man City can be proud of a very successful youth training system in Europe in the past 10 years. The training of talent is part of a plan outlined by Abu Dhabi owners to ensure that Man City will eventually stay away from expensive contracts and develop their own talent.
According to Transfermarkt, Man City have earned £363m by selling local players since 2014, accounting for nearly half of their total transfer income of £773m.
However, the profits from the academy players are starting to against Man City. They have earned a lot of money, but a smarter plan could boost patience with young players and allow them to develop at the Etihad.
The Citizens are so generous that signing a top player and bringing them straight into the first team is too easy. Therefore, giving young people like Palmer or Rogers patience is very unlikely.
Over the years, neither Man United nor Liverpool have been ashamed of a young player who has succeeded elsewhere. They kept their best young players and turned them into great players for the club.
Man City have gone the other way and it seems they will pay a heavy price...
