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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Joe Bray

Man City forward Oscar Bobb could get two senior debuts next season after impressing at U21 Euros

Before Shea Charles made his first team Manchester City debut on the final day of the Premier League season at Brentford, he was one of three young Blues who had incredibly played at senior level for their countries before making their club debut.

U21 captain Charles had seven Northern Ireland caps to his name before getting a run-out for Pep Guardiola, while Alex Robertson was given a full Australia debut earlier this year as he waits for a City call - although he has played senior football on loan in Scotland. In the under-18s, left-back Tom Galvez is a senior Finland international, but is yet to make a matchday squad for City.

There could be another youngster close to a senior debut for his country, as attacker Oscar Bobb is impressing at the under-21 European Championships.

Bobb, 19, has been named City's under-21 player of the year for the last two seasons, and could be set for a promotion to the first team next season if Cole Palmer leaves on loan, as the club continue to build their squad around incoming and outgoings this summer.

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After a season where he scored eight goals and added an impressive 18 assists, Bobb has taken his form to the under-21 Euros with Norway, where he has put in two eye-catching performances.

Unfortunately, Norway have suffered narrow defeats to Norway and Switzerland, meaning they cannot qualify for the knockout stages even if they beat Italy in the final group game this week, so Bobb's season will end on Wednesday, over 11 months after it started as a fringe player on City's pre-season tour to the US last summer.

Bobb didn't get on the pitch in either game last year, and the closest he has got to Pep Guardiola's first team is as an unused substitute in the FA Cup at Swindon in 2022. With noise growing in Norway over a potential senior debut, national team coach Stale Solbakken confirmed this week that Bobb was on the radar of his coaching staff.

"We always select the ones we think are the best," Solbakken told NRK. "We have seen a lot both in the club [at City] and in Norway. We didn't discover him against Switzerland."

Norway under-21 coach Leif Gunnar Smerud echoed the senior boss, saying: "Where the road goes next is difficult to say, but he has insanely exciting potential. It will be exciting to see how his everyday life will be now, it will control his performance development."

Bobb himself, though, is not focussed on a senior debut for now, though. He said: "I don't know if I'm next in line there anyway, so I don't think anything of it.

"I hope to impress when I return to Manchester. If [a first team promotion] happens, I'm happy, but I don't know anything yet, so I can't comment on it."

After helping City to a third consecutive Premier League 2 title, Bobb told MEN Sport last month: "I'm just trying to impress. The dream is to play for the first team. That's all I'm thinking about. If other things happen, they will, but that's my main focus."

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