"Five Chelsea players were nurtured at the academy that sits a few hundred yards from the Etihad Stadium, on the other side of a bridge. The London club's recent recruitment has been heavily influenced by City's teaching of players and coaches. Tosin Adarabioyo, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Romeo Lavia were members of City's youth ranks, most working there under Enzo Maresca."
"We had so many unbelievable players, says their former City teammate Ben Knight. When you've got that many top, top players, you just feel like you're never going to lose. And we had a season at under-23s after we won the Youth Cup [when] we were just ridiculous, even when we played against the men's teams in the Papa Johns [Trophy]. I don't really remember ever losing."
Five Chelsea players — Tosin Adarabioyo, Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Jamie Gittens and Romeo Lavia — came through Manchester City's academy located a few hundred yards from the Etihad Stadium. Most worked under coach Enzo Maresca, and several won the 2020 FA Youth Cup with City. Palmer and Delap both featured in that Youth Cup final victory over Chelsea. Adarabioyo and Lavia made first-team appearances under Pep Guardiola, while Gittens spent two years at City after joining from Reading. City sells academy graduates as part of its business model, with Palmer's £40m transfer to Chelsea cited as an example. Chelsea's recruitment team includes former City staff who scouted that generation.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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