Manchester City turned to their academy talents for help in their preparations for an upcoming Champions League clash with Sparta Prague.
Among the players called up for training were four academy standouts, alongside Jacob Wright and Nico O’Reilly, who have been training with the senior squad regularly this season. Defenders Emilio Lawrence and Seb Naylor, along with forwards Jaden Heskey and Farid Alfa-Ruprecht, joined Pep Guardiola’s session. Meanwhile, Wright and O’Reilly are likely to lead City’s Under-19 team on Wednesday in their UEFA Youth League match.
City’s youth team is eager to make a mark in the competition. After suffering a 4-2 defeat against Inter Milan in their opening match, they responded strongly with a 4-0 win over Slovan Bratislava. With that momentum, the Blues are aiming to make a significant impact this season.
On Tuesday afternoon, City’s first team trained under the autumn sun, with the media allowed to watch the first 15 minutes. A familiar face, club legend Mike Summerbee, was present at the training grounds. As players like Erling Haaland and Guardiola emerged onto the field, Summerbee greeted them warmly.
Accompanying Summerbee was City’s sporting director, Txiki Begiristain, whose departure at the end of this season was recently announced. Begiristain, after 12 years in Manchester, will be replaced by Hugo Viana, who is joining from Sporting Lisbon. Ironically, Sporting Lisbon is one of City’s potential opponents in this year’s Champions League campaign.
As City prepares to host Sparta Prague at 8pm tomorrow, the Under-19 team will face off against their Czech counterparts earlier in the day, with a 3pm kickoff at the Joie Stadium.
