One of the most startling aspects of a remarkable transfer windows for Manchester City was the number of young players who left the club.
Some very promising academy stars departed on permanent deals, and while Romeo Lavia and Gavin Bazunu were the headlines figures — going to Southampton for eight-figure deals and starting the opening games of the season — it was not these that had the biggest impact in the dressing rooms of the Under-18s and Under-21s. The pair are talented, but also widely known; Bazunu saved a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo last season to make news around the world, while Lavia has been part of Pep Guardiola's first team squad for some time and earned plenty of praise from the manager.
Instead, it was the news that Leeds United were signing Darko Gyabi for £5m that really opened the eyes of many young players at City, who know realistically that their chances of making it into the senior side at the Etihad are small. There is no doubt that Gyabi, an 18-year-old midfielder, has lots of potential but there is also no hiding the fact that he played very little football last year after breaking his fifth metatarsal early in the season.
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The fact that a Premier League club could come in with serious money offering a quicker route to top-level football even for players who haven't been the obvious standouts in academy football hammered home to everyone that it could happen to them. While the aim is to take every opportunity, Gyabi moving saw it dawn on others that the talent needed to simply make it to this stage of the City academy could be enough to earn them a good move elsewhere.
Gyabi was far from the last departure; 17-year-old Luca Barrington moved to Brighton for £500k, Southampton paid £6m for 18-year-old Juan Larios on deadline day (as well as up to £10m for the more well-known Sam Edozie) and there was interest in young forward Dire Mebude after a decent season last year with the Under-18s. City's transfer stance at academy level has mirrored the first team stance, with no barriers being put in the way of those who want a move — even if clauses are usually inserted into deals to protect the club's interests.
As a result, a new pathway has opened up. City inadvertently showcased a game-changing opportunity for youngsters a few years ago when Jadon Sancho sparked a trend for any prospects who felt they wanted first team football but weren't being offered it at the top clubs they were at, the winger kickstarting his senior career at Dortmund before earning a £73m move to United last summer (and earning City a tidy sum).
Yet however much Sancho provided a lightbulb moment, his path cannot be for everyone because not all academy players will command fees like that and become England internationals. While he may not (yet) have been able to flourish in a United side where all personal reputations have taken a hit in the collective malaise, Sancho was and remains a special case in the same way that Phil Foden has been staying at City.
What Gyabi and others have done is shown that there are opportunities for every young player coming through at the City academy — and at similar clubs — to get a really good move, even if they do not appear to be the star of the team when they play. At any moment in any match, scouts could be making a life-changing moment for someone's football career.
City have embraced this despite ending up with much smaller and less experienced squads in their youth teams this year, and in the summer the new group were shown a presentation that highlighted every member of the last group at the beginning of the campaign and where they are now. Most have picked up good moves elsewhere.
The Sancho path still exists for those that can follow it, but there is a new template that young Blues are following now.
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