Jeremy Monga completed a move to Manchester City in recent days – and the talented young winger has made a wise decision.
Monga had been the subject of interest from many clubs following Leicester City’s relegation to League One.
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The 17-year-old made 27 appearances in the Championship in 2025/26, and scored one goal and chipped in a couple of assists.
Monga’s development has been one to watch. The starlet actually got some minutes for Leicester in the Premier League a couple of seasons ago, when he made his debut aged just 15 years and 271 days against Newcastle United.
He was never likely to stay after Leicester dropped to the third tier.
And the talented youngster is now in very good hands at Manchester City.
Enzo Maresca is perfect for new Man City player Jeremy Monga
City paid around £12.5 million (Guardian) for Monga and were reported to have beaten Arsenal to the player.
That is significant, because it shows City is still the place to be for the best youngsters, despite Arsenal’s current status as league champions.
Upon joining City, Monga said: “When I became aware that Manchester City were interested, I knew instantly this was the right choice for me. For any young footballer, to become part of this amazing club is a dream come true.
“This has been the best club in England over the past 10 years. And it has also handed opportunities to players from the academy like Phil Foden and Nico O’Reilly, which shows that the pathway is there. It is a privilege to be here and I’m delighted to have joined.”
| Jeremy Monga for Leicester in 25/26 |
| Appearances – 27 |
| Minutes played – 921 |
| Goals – 1 |
| Assists – 2 |
Foden and O’Reilly have certainly been success stories.
But there is perhaps another reason why Monga has made absolutely the right choice, plumping for City over Arsenal, and that is the arrival of Enzo Maresca as the new head coach.
Guardiola did produce the likes of Foden and O’Reilly. But his time at City was not without criticism when it came to playing young players. At times, some felt he should have turned to more.
It was even said at times that Foden should have played far more than he did.
But Maresca is someone that Monga, and indeed lots of other talented young players in City’s academy, should be very excited about.
Maresca has previously worked in City’s academy, and played a big part in developing the likes of Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia, Liam Delap and James McAtee.
While these players did all move on, they did leave the club for huge money.
Then at Chelsea, Maresca handed debuts to no less than eight youngsters, including Tyrique George – who just signed for Everton for £25 million – Kiano Dyer, Shumaira Mheuka, and Reggie Walsh.
Notably, Maresca had three teenagers score in one of Chelsea’s Champions League games over Ajax last October. No side has ever managed that in the history of the competition.
So Monga can absolutely be optimistic about playing for City’s first-team in 2026/27.
That said, nothing is ever a given. He will very obviously have to work his socks off to create an opportunity for himself, as Maresca will not just hand out token minutes.
