Tommy Doyle isn't giving up hope of returning to Manchester City as a first team regular, but accepts that won't happen next season.
Doyle, 20, has seven senior appearances for City and was under-23 captain as the academy won the FA Youth Cup and Premier League 2 in 2020/21. He had a difficult few months at Hamburg on loan for his first taste of senior football, but kicked on in the Championship at Cardiff in January.
He made 20 appearances in South Wales, scoring twice and assisting three times, as the Bluebirds successfully pulled clear of relegation danger with plenty of games to spare. He is attracting interest from higher-end Championship clubs and is likely to leave on loan next season again.
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The England under-21 international is in a middle ground of being in demand for some good loan spells, but also not yet ready to mount a serious challenge to be a City regular under Pep Guardiola. And while that remains his long-term ambition, Doyle accepts the reality that it may never happen.
"I think the main thing for me is playing football, I want to play as much as I can and hopefully in the future that gets me into the Man City team," he told Sky Sports.
"Obviously I can’t look too far ahead, I have to focus on what’s happening now with England [U21s] then hopefully next season I can carry on playing minutes.
"The good thing is with City they do what’s right for you, they know me better than anybody else with the amount of time I’ve been there so that club is a massive place for me.
"Hopefully in the future that’s the place I want to be but I have to understand right now that I have to continue playing minutes, whether that’s elsewhere I’m not too sure yet we’ll see what happens."
