City Xtra

Three of the Premier League’s leading clubs in terms of sporting projects are gearing up for a direct battle over one of Europe’s emerging central defensive talents.

Manchester City are certainly no strangers when it comes to attempting to lead the race for the game’s next big names, having endured so much previous success in recruiting up and coming prospects for their own Academy system.

The wider City Football Group is also seen as an excellent development path for young footballers now, who are granted the opportunity to ultimately reach Manchester City by starring for one of their many sister clubs.

The latest player to have successfully achieved that exact pathway is Brazil international winger Savinho, who first joined ESTAC Troyes from Atlético Mineiro in a €6.5 million agreement in 2022, joining Manchester City for a package worth £33.6 million this summer.

That success story is likely to inspire a longer line of aspiring young footballers to attempt the route, should Manchester City and the City Football Group come calling, and their attentions have now been drawn to the Austrian game.

According to the information of HITC journalist Graeme Bailey, Premier League champions Manchester City have been ‘impressed with the progress’ of Red Bull Salzburg defender, Samson Baidoo.

The 20-year-old is described as ‘a ball-playing centre-half who loves to carry the ball into midfield’, with Manchester City having been keeping tabs on the player’s progression over the last 18 months.

However, given the progress made by Baidoo, the report also reveals that Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United have also watched the player in action this year, with all of Barcelona, Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund described as ‘admirers’.

Manchester City’s last defensive recruit in the central role came in 2023 as the club won the race to sign Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig in a £78 million agreement, nurturing the Croatian into their mainstay left-back position.

City remain well-stocked in the central defensive roles at present, and any further recruitment in the position would likely see players developed elsewhere within the City Football Group, or within the club’s Elite Development Squad.

The most likely destination for big-money project signings would be La Liga club Girona, who are currently blocked from transferring players to and from the Etihad Stadium due to the two clubs competing in this season’s UEFA Champions League.

Tottenham saw one of their brightest prospects in their Academy system make a move to Manchester City in the summer, despite being destined for the USA at one stage.

It is the latest in a long line of Manchester City recruits for their esteemed Academy system, with the aim being to retain their position at the top of European football for several years to come.

City secured the services of the likes of Ryan McAidoo from Chelsea’s highly-rated conveyor belt of youth talent, whilst there is an intention to secure a deal for New York City’s England youth international Christian McFarlane.

The most recent recruit into the club’s City Football Academy training centre saw a different set of circumstances, with Etihad Stadium talent spotters preventing one player from moving to the United States to pursue higher education.

According to the information of journalist Alan Nixon, Manchester City pulled off a coup during the summer transfer window by signing midfielder Han Willhoft-King from Tottenham Hotspur, stopping him from heading to the United States.

Willhoft-King, who is described within the report as ‘an extremely bright student’, originally planned to go the USA to accept a scholarship at the University of California in the summer, but was presented with a firm counter offer.

It is explained that Manchester City got wind of his departure from the North London club, where he had been training and playing from the age of just six-years-old, and came up with a counter offer that he subsequently accepted to remain within the Premier League.

Manchester City and Tottenham have a healthy working relationship in the youth talent department, whilst communication between the clubs at senior first-team level has been more complex.

City failed in attempts to recruit Harry Kane from the North London giants during the summer transfer window of 2021, with official Daniel Levy standing firm on a £120 million valuation of the England international.

That tough negotiating position from Spurs followed Manchester City’s hugely successful hunt for Kyle Walker in the summer market of 2017, with the defender going on to become one of the most decorated English footballers in the history of the game.