Manchester City forward emerges as loan possibility for EFL Championship club | OneFootball

Manchester City academy forward Divin Mubama has emerged as a contender to join Stoke City on loan next season, as per a new report.

The London-born striker is one of the brightest attacking prospects at the City Football Academy and after training with the first-team last term, the 20-year-old made his Premier League debut in a 6-0 victory away at Ipswich Town in January.

Mubama is highly rated at the Etihad Stadium and was named in the starting XI in Manchester City’s 8-0 FA Cup third-round rout of Salford City, with the young attacker grabbing a first senior goal for his boyhood club.

Pep Guardiola is blessed with a rich array of attacking options in the first-team and despite his promise, it is unlikely that Mubama breaks into the starting XI to compete with the likes of Erling Haaland anytime soon.

A season-long loan move to experience regular first-team football will prove beneficial to Mubama, who has impressed since joining Manchester City last summer and can progress his development with more minutes under his belt next term.

James McAtee and Liam Delap are good example of Manchester City academy players who enjoyed successful loan spells in England – and are now reaping the rewards for wanting to step out of their comfort zones and trying to prove themselves at the highest level.

McAtee is captaining the England U-21’s at the European Championship and is expected to complete a permanent move away from Manchester City this summer. Delap enjoyed a breakthrough season at Ipswich Town last season and earned a £30 million move to Chelsea this summer.

Oscar Bobb, Rico Lewis and Nico O’Reilly are academy graduates who will all almost certainty be part of the Manchester City first-team setup next season but the path to the first-team may not be as simple for Mubama, who needs a loan to realise his true potential.

TEAMtalk’s Fraser Fletcher is reporting that Mubama has emerged as a strong candidate to join Stoke City on loan this summer, with the EFL Championship club looking to add the Manchester City starlet to their ranks ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.

Mubama scored 17 times and provided four assists in 16 appearances in all competitions for various Manchester City sides last season, which have seen the young striker gain popularity across England ahead of the new season.

Manchester City have sanctioned loans for academy players and kept track of their progress for several years, with many returning to play a role in the first-team. It has certainly been the case since Guardiola was appointed first-team manager that loans have become a trademark route for academy stars to go out and prove they are ready elsewhere.

Morgan Rogers represents the best example to highlight this point; the now Aston Villa and England midfielder was deemed surplus to requirements by Manchester City’s academy – with the 22-year-old currently one of the best attacking midfielders in the Premier League.