After winning a fourth Premier League title in the last five seasons, Manchester City have already significantly strengthened their already star-studded squad with the £51 acquisition of Erling Haaland.
His arrival in the Premier League is a statement, but Pep Guardiola will already be aware of the demands a World Cup-disrupted season will bring, so is already looking at other options to deepen his relatively small squad.
Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips and Brighton's Marc Cucurella have been linked with moves to the Etihad, while Stefan Ortega is expected to join the club as a back-up goalkeeper on a free transfer. But considering Fernandinho has already left - and several other stars are reportedly considering their futures - it could signal a shift in strategy by Guardiola when it comes to his academy prospects.
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Speaking on the Dr Football podcast earlier this week, City's CEO, Ferran Soriano, was discussing the club's transfer strategy this summer and made an interesting point when it comes to youth talent.
He said: "The current squad is very good. Not only with top players, experienced players that we have, but others that are coming through like [Cole] Palmer or [James] McAtee - these are very young, English players with a bright future.
"Phil Foden is a spectacular example of a boy that has been in our academy since he was 10 years old and he's a Manchester City fan. But, if I may say, we won the Premier League, the Premier League 2 and the U18 Premier League - and we did it again the season previous.
"There is a long list of very good young players that have been winning with City and are coming up and there will be some stars."
With comments like that, it seems like City are definitely trusting in their best youth talent going forward. As mentioned, Foden's story is a massively important one for the club to show emerging prospects that there is still a pathway amongst a squad of elite internationals.
What it also shows is that McAtee will be around the first-team squad next season, despite links with a loan move to the Championship. After signing a three-year extension earlier this year, it was apparent Guardiola thinks the youngster has what it takes to mix it with the very best, so we'll see that even more in the upcoming campaign.
It's obvious Palmer is touted as the next big thing from the academy, but it will certainly be encouraging for City fans to hear they have still got bundles of talent developing further down the age groups who have a good shot of making it in the first team.
Much has often been said about Guardiola's trust in youth, but in a season with so much at stake in such a short period of time, the Catalan may have no choice.
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