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Manchester City has experienced a remarkable rise to the summit of English football. Since Sheikh Mansour's takeover in 2008, the club has enjoyed a sizeable upturn in fortune. In fact, they were arguably the most successful English team in the last decade winning two FA Cups, four League Cups, and four Premier League titles in that time frame. In two of those Premier League winning seasons, the club amassed two record tallies of 100 and 98 points in the Premier League in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons, including an unprecedented domestic treble last season.
Manchester City's sublime rise to the summit of English football is further proof that bad times don't last.
A lot of City's success initially came at the expense of the youth with the club being more than capable of signing world-class players in a competitive market, and not bound to bring youth players through to the first-team squad.
Despite this, some of City's academy products have impressed in recent times. Here, we take a look at the top 5 graduates from Manchester City's esteemed academy.
5. Phil Foden
Born in Stockport, a boyhood City supporter, Phil Foden joined City aged just nine and is one of the very few players who have come through the ranks and made it to the first team. The youngster is one of the most talented young footballers in Europe. Also lovingly referred to as the 'Stockport Iniesta' by the City faithful, despite Foden just beginning to be integrated into the senior team, he already looks like the real deal.
The Englishman already holds the record for Manchester's City's youngest ever Champions League goalscorer and the youngest English goalscorer to score in the knockout stages of the competition, aged, just 18 years and 288 days.
The fans and the hierarchy at City evidently consider Foden as the face of the next generation of players at the club.
Even Pep Guardiola once stated that the 19-year-old is the most talented young player he has ever managed. Judging by that and considering the players' the Catalan has coached, this lad surely is something special. At 19 years of age, Foden is already considered the rightful successor of a City great, and one of the finest midfielders in modern football, David Silva.
4. Kasper Schmeichel
Son of one of the greatest ever goalkeepers and Manchester United great Peter Schmeichel, Kasper, is a graduate from the Manchester City academy. He is also the first choice goalkeeper for his national side Denmark.
Although Schmeichel was once the first choice at City, the emergence of Joe Hart resulted in him being loaned out to several sides, namely Cardiff City, Bury, Scottish side Falkirk, and more. In total, Schmeichel spent 7 years at City, and being unhappy with his game time, he ended up joining Notts County.
Following a short spell at Leeds United, he joined Leicester City, who were in the Championship at the time. Schmeichel helped Leicester to a Premier League title playing every game of their improbable title-winning campaign in 2015. He could have won a few Premier League titles by warming the bench at City but chose the difficult way instead.
3. Keiran Trippier
A right-back by trade, Keiran Trippier joined Man City aged just nine. He spent a total of 13 years at the club but never appeared for the first team. Sensing a lack of opportunity, Trippier finally left City for Burnley in 2012.
At Burnley, he won his place in the Championship PFA Team of the Year and also helped the club gain promotion back to the premier league in his second season at the club.
After 4 years at Turf Moor, Trippier joined Tottenham Hotspur where he earned his first England call-up in May 2017. Despite the number of options that England had for the right-back spot, Trippier was their first choice at the 2018 World Cup beating serious competition in the likes of Kyle Walker and Trent Alexander-Arnold for the position.
Trippier even went on to score England's first goal in a World Cup Semi-Final since 1990. Last season, He enjoyed a dream run to the Champions League final with Spurs. He is now plying his trade in Spain with one of Europe's elite sides, Atletico Madrid.
2. Daniel Sturridge
Daniel Sturridge has played for a few of England's best clubs including the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool. Unfortunately, he was ousted for more expensive and decorated names at the Etihad. Sturridge has two FA cups, one Premier League and two Champions League titles to his name. He won his first Champions League at Chelsea in 2012, despite not playing that much of a major role.
The Englishman has represented England at all levels and even appeared for the Three Lions at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Although recurring injuries have plagued his career, no one can deny that he was a deadly striker and one of the most spectacular finishers in the league when he did manage to keep himself fit and firing.
At Liverpool, he formed a deadly duo with Luis Suarez and won his second Champions League last year under Jurgen Klopp. Although he now plays for Turkish side Trabzonspor, going by trophies alone, he is the most successful player on this list and is comfortably the most noteworthy name to have graduated from the Cityzens' academy.
1. Jadon Sancho
Who else, if not Jadon Sancho, would be at the top of this list? The winger has taken Europe by storm in the last two and a half seasons. He is already being linked with Europe's most elite clubs in Real Madrid, Bayern, Liverpool, and more, at the tender age of 19.
Sancho joined Man City aged 14 and continued to impress with the youth side and he probably could have made it to the first team in one or two seasons just like Foden. However, Not being content with the first-team opportunities at City, Sancho decided otherwise and forced a move away to Borussia Dortmund for a fee of £8m in 2017 and ever since, his career graph has only seen a meteoric rise.
The Englishman is already breaking records in Germany. He holds the record for the youngest ever player to score 8 goals in a single Bundesliga season. At just 19, he already has 11 international caps for England to his name. Right now, When it comes to young players, It is arguably only France's generational talent Kylian Mbappe who is ahead of him.
Honourable mentions: Philippe Sandler, Eric Garcia, Brahim Diaz and Pablo Maffeo.
