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Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has highlighted
the three young players he expects to make their mark on
the first team in the coming years.
Pellegrini has called up nine graduates from City's Elite
Development Squad, as well as summer signing Patrick
Roberts, for his senior squads this season - a source of
immense pride for outgoing youth team boss Patrick Vieira.
Even so, very few of the youngsters involved in Pellegrini's
match day squads have seen significant action, with the
majority of those thrown into the breach restricted to late
cameos in the League Cup.
And while Pellegrini did admit that he has had to fill out his
ranks with youth teamers due to injuries to senior players,
he does believe there are a select few who can contribute on
the pitch.
"We had a lot of young players because we have a lot of
players injured," he told reporters. "We have in the EDS
squad very good players that I hope that, maybe not most of
them, but an important amount of them, can play in the first
team maybe in the next years.
"In this moment we have, I think, two or three players very
useful for the team, and at the right moment I will give them
the option, [such] as Kelechi [Iheanacho], as Manu Garcia,
as Patrick Roberts, but I think that of course they will have
the moment."
Manu Garcia is one of the few youngsters to have come off
the bench this season, and indeed the 17-year-old bagged
his first senior goal against Crystal Palace in the League
Cup, his second and - to date - most recent appearance of
the campaign.
Roberts, who was signed from Fulham this summer and has
been beset by injury in recent weeks, was given the final four
minutes of the drubbing at Tottenham in September and has
also featured in City's run to the League Cup semi-finals.
The biggest impact on the first team has been made by
Iheanacho, who was introduced in the last minute of the
Premier League clash with Crystal Palace and duly scored
the winning goal.
The Nigerian, who was recently called up by his country for
the first time and has been tipped for big things at City even
before officially signing for the club in February, has also
started two matches in league and cup this season and has
scored three goals in all competitions.
Pablo Maffeo, Brandon Barker (now on loan at Rotherham
United), Tosin Adarabioyo, George Glendon, Bersant Celina
and Cameron Humphreys-Grant have all been named on the
bench without seeing action, while George Evans was given
a one-minute League Cup cameo in September and has
sinced joined Walsall on loan.
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