As one of the biggest clubs in the world, Manchester City are able to compete for the best players in the world.
However, it’s not just about signing ready-made players all the time – it’s important for clubs to sign young talents and develop them into stars.
We’re seeing this now at Manchester City, with the likes of Nico O’Reilly, James McAtee and Rico Lewis breaking into the first-team after coming through the ranks.
Now, the coach of a player who’s now flying at Chelsea has claimed that Man City tried very hard to sign him when he was a teenager.
Manchester City reportedly tried to sign Pedro Neto when he was at Braga
The player in question is Pedro Neto, who is now a regular for Chelsea after making a £54million move to Stamford Bridge in 2024.
Prior to joining Chelsea, Neto made his name at Wolverhampton Wanderers – but City apparently wanted to sign him before Wolves got their hands on him.
“When Pedro Neto played for the Under-17 side at Braga, Manchester City had a great interest in him,” Rui Santos, Neto’s former coach at Braga, told GiveMeSport.
“They even sent a private plane to take him to the club and show him around. He is now performing at a high level at Chelsea and has a magical quality to his game.”
Neto ended up staying put at Braga and also took in a loan spell at Lazio, but Wolves came calling in 2019.
The Molineux club secured a double deal for Neto and Bruno Jordao reportedly worth £18million.
You win some, you lose some – other top talents in City ranks
It would’ve been nice to see Neto play for City, and you’ve got to give credit to City’s scouts for having identified him as such a top talent when he was still in Braga’s youth team.
Ultimately, however, you win some and you lose some – and City seem to be doing more winning than losing when it comes to signing top talents.
Abdukodir Khusanov, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah have all signed this season, all of whom are top players or top talents.
Then you have the aforementioned O’Reilly, James McAtee and Rico Lewis, all of whom have graduated from the City academy.
In addition, City have some more great youngsters in the academy, such as Divin Mubama, Divine Musaka and Ryan McAidoo, who all look like they could break into the first-team soon.
