Manchester City starlet Joel Ndala is reportedly already getting a number of clubs enquiring about taking him on loan and signing him permanently.
Journalist David Ornstein has claimed the City teenager is attracting a fair bit of attention, despite having not yet played for the first-team at the Etihad.
The City academy has really borne fruit in the last five or six years or so.
The likes of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer – now of Chelsea – and Rico Lewis have all made an impact for City’s first-team, and there are other players who have managed to fetch the club a pretty penny
Players like Romano Lavia, Carlos Borges, James Trafford and Shea Charles all left for sizeable fees despite playing little to no minutes.
One of the most talented prospects emerging at City right now is Joel Ndala – and the 17-year-old is already a wanted man…
Clubs already circling Manchester City starlet Joel Ndala
Journalist David Ornstein was answering questions via The Athletic’s Q&A page on Thursday.
He was actually asked by a fan about whether City supporters need to be concerned about the 115 charges the club are facing relating to FFP.
Ornstein says that right now it is ‘impossible to forecast the outcome’, but that fans should not take the 115 charges lightly.
He then changed the subject to talk about Ndala – and it sounds as though interest is already hotting up in the attacker.
He said: “I understand the 17-year-old has already been subject to enquiries in relation to a loan and permanent move. Given he signed professional terms in July 2022, City would be able to command a sizeable fee if they cash in and they have capitalised on the elite standard of their academy in recent times (e.g. Lavia, Charles, Borges all leaving for big money).
“It represents a significant source of profit and City tend to insert buy-back clauses in their deals, which keeps them in a position of strength for the future. One to keep an eye on!”
Ndala another top City prospect
So Ndala is already attracting quite a lot of attention, without having played for City’s first-team. It just goes to show what a brilliant job City have done with their academy, to have clubs queuing up to try and land the next big talent.
Ndala certainly could be that. He has been on duty with the England U17s at the World Cup, and scored his third goal of the tournament against Uzbekistan on Wednesday. Unfortunately, England lost 2-1 and crashed out.
But Ndala really impressed out in Indonesia, as he has been doing back at the CFA for some time now.
Earlier this year, City legend Shaun Goater raved about Ndala, calling him ‘an exciting player’.
It will be very interesting to see what City do with him. He is extremely talented, so perhaps the club will want to hold onto him to see if he can get in with the first-team next season.
