Hugo Viana plots Manchester City’s next stars in clear Academy to first-team vision | OneFootball

Manchester City may need to brace for an increased number of Academy stars moving into the first-team with their incoming sporting director taking on a new approach.

Pep Guardiola’s current crop of first-team options boast a number of academy graduates who have made a strong impression over the years, with Nico O’Reilly and James McAtee breaking through and featuring regularly for the senior side in the second half of the campaign.

Phil Foden is the poster boy for Manchester City’s Academy and represents the best of a long list of youngsters who have made their respective marks in England and abroad after time spent at the City Football Academy (CFA).

Rico Lewis and Oscar Bobb are more additions Guardiola has made from the Academy to his squad in recent years, with the former displacing Joao Cancelo as first-choice right back in the historic, treble-winning 2022/23 season.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News’ Joe Bray this week, Manchester City’s Academy Director Thomas Krucken has anticipated big things for the club’s current Elite Development Squad and Under-18s.

“I think it’s a really exciting group with a couple of high-potential players, but it was great to see how consistent they performed across the whole season. I’m very optimistic that the next generation knocks on the door (of the first-team),” Krucken admitted.

He continued, “There are a couple of really exciting players, but it’s still obviously a long way to go.

“But with the right interface to the first team, with hard and honest work day to day, and everybody is allowed to dream, but at the end it’s how hard we work, make the right decisions about the training content day to day.”

The report highlights that Thomas Krucken speaks with Manchester City’s current but outgoing director of football Txiki Begiristain daily, while ‘excited’ over his early interactions with the 60-year-old’s replacement, Hugo Viana.

The Portuguese official – who has now started work full-time at the Etihad Stadium as part of his transitional phase before replacing Begiristain this summer – is said to have been ‘taking a keen interest in academy games’ and ‘asking’ Krucken about certain individuals.

Viana has a huge task on his hands as he takes over from Begiristain in the coming months and conducts a thorough audit of Guardiola’s squad whilst trying to replace the outgoing Kevin De Bruyne.

City have shortlisted Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White as priority additions in the attacking areas, with Guardiola also keen on adding at least one full-back as it becomes more likely that Kyle Walker will be sold when he returns from his loan spell at AC Milan.