Manchester City sign nine players to first professional contracts ahead of 2024/25 season | OneFootball

Nine Academy players have signed their first professional contracts with Manchester City ahead of the 2024/25 season, the club have confirmed this week.

The latest development in Manchester City’s long-term succession planning and retaining their place as one of the strongest built Academy systems in the world follows confirmation of their latest round of scholarship signings earlier this week.

City’s Academy saw 12 names sign scholarships ahead of the new season in Kaden Braithwaite, Seth Chingwaro, Charlie Courtman, Leke Drake, Reigan Heskey, Max Hudson, Jayden Lienou, Stephen Mfuni, Kylan Midwood, Tyrone Samba, Oliver Tevenan, and Oliver Whatmuff.

And in light of that step, Manchester City have now revealed the list of up to 11 names that are expected to commit their futures to the City Football Academy through their first professional deals in the game.

As confirmed by Manchester City earlier this week, nine Academy players at the Etihad Stadium have now signed their first pro contracts with the Premier League champions ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Putting pen to paper on their first professional deals are: Rhys Thomas, Kian Noble, Matty Warhurst, Daniel Batty, Jack Wint, Spike Brits, Brooklyn Nfonkeu, Harrison Parker, and Luca Fletcher.

Manchester City also revealed that to celebrate, each player signed their contract with Academy Director Thomas Kruecken at the City Football Academy with their family and friends alongside them.

The club statement also points out that City are set to hand first professional deals to Femi Fapetu and Divine Mukasa, who will both sign their new contracts once they have celebrated their 17th birthdays in the coming months, taking the total number of first-year professional contracts to 11 for the upcoming season.

A number of players listed above are already being looked after by Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff during various points of the season, with the likes of Stephen Mfuni having already had opportunities to impress at first-team level.

In the case of Mfuni, the 16-year-old has this month been granted the chance to join the Manchester City first-team squad on their pre-season tour of the United States, embarking on four matches along the east coast of the country.

There is no doubt that throughout the course of the upcoming season, more first-team opportunities will be recommended to Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff for particular profiles, as the club continues their work of developing players beyond their age categories.