Cole Palmer was sold for £42m and has 52 goals or assists in 58 games since leaving Manchester City. And a goal in the European Championship final.
Liam Delap has taken to life in the Premier League like a seasoned goalscorer, and James McAtee is a first team player with Pep Guardiola after two years at Sheffield United. Delap and McAtee top-scored in the academy in 2021 and 2022 respectively, with Carlos Borges taking the accolade in 2023. Palmer recorded 33 goal involvements in 25 appearances in that time for the academy, with the four players earning £79m between them in transfer fees since and all playing Premier League football.
Naturally, attention will turn to who is next. Goals for the academy translate into millions in transfer fees for City these days. Now there is another prolific forward catching the eye this term.
ALSO READ: Man City’s new triple threat looming after injury crisis causes early season slump in form
Players like Delap and Borges didn’t just start scoring goals for the under-21s, they were prolific too at under-18 level. There is less of a guarantee of ‘making it’ if you have a good season with the youth team, but what that does is set someone up well for promotion to the U21s. Then, they can prove their potential and persuade clubs to open the chequebooks.
Micah Hamilton and Dire Mebude are examples of goalscorers at under-18 level who are now playing senior football and have earned City money, but not on the level as Palmer or Delap.
As ever, it is up to each player to keep working hard and doing what is asked of them by their coaches. Keeping grounded is a quality that is coveted by City, and it rarely helps anyone to big anyone up before they are ready.
So City will be keen to keep an in-form player like Reigan Heskey with his feet on the ground, despite an incredible start to the season for the 16-year-old.
12 goals and six assists in 14 appearances gives him a better goal-per-game and goal-per-minute ratio than Erling Haaland this season, plus more contributions. A completely different level, of course, but Heskey has goals for the under-18s, under-19s, under-21s and against senior professionals twice his age in the EFL Trophy.
Playing alongside brother Jaden, Heskey is a quick, exciting winger with an eye for a shot. He may be a more traditional winger than the flamboyant Palmer, closer to a striker with his movement and finishing, so a comparison to Borges is probably more appropriate.
With father Emile well aware of what it takes to make the grade at the top level, City can be confident that both Heskey brothers will approach the defining years of their academy careers. Carry on, and they are displaying the kind of form that has proven quite lucrative for City in recent summers.
There comes a point where youngsters show they are clearly too good for their age group. It happened with Palmer, Borges, McAtee and Delap. Their promotion was first team football, either at the Etihad or elsewhere. Someone with numbers like Heskey’s could soon find himself playing up an age group for the same reason.
