Pep Guardiola was understandably guarded about the quintet of teenage talent who will bolster his Manchester City squad against RB Leipzig in Tuesday’s Champions League dead rubber.
The Phil Foden experience, where every slice of fulsome praise from Guardiola was seized upon by those demanding more game time for the young playmaker, makes this understandable.
Foden’s development means the softly, softly approach has been vindicated but youth team standouts Cole Palmer and James McAtee are at the forefront of the next cycle of buzz and demanding anticipation.
“They are 18, 19 years old and at 18, 19 years old you have everything ahead of you that you can improve and can be better,” the City manager said, with full-backs CJ Egan-Riley and Josh Wilson-Esbrand also in his travelling party to Germany alongside holding midfielder Romeo Lavia.
“The potential that they have, all of us agree they are fantastic young players. But they need to settle perfectly and be game by game by game with how they behave.
“The potential is there and this is the most important. That’s why we need them and when we have to use them it’s absolutely not a problem.”
Palmer is certainly a little further down the Foden path than McAtee, despite there only being five months between the two 19-year-olds.
England Under-21 international Palmer has senior starts and goals to his name this season and penned a contract running until 2026 back in the summer.
That latter factor is the most immediate point of difference. McAtee is out of contract next June and Liverpool, Manchester United and Barcelona are among the clubs who have been credited with an interest in the creative midfielder.
A spectacular run of form that has seen McAtee score 16 goals in 17 appearances for City’s EDS side this season - including hat-tricks against United, Blackburn and Club Brugge - is always likely to attract that sort of attention and it places him at a career crossroads.
Foden is now seen as the template for City youngsters, pointed to as the shining example that the system works.
But it is fair to suggest that him being a boyhood City fan encouraged a level of patience to wait for opportunities that the likes of Brahim Diaz, Jadon Sancho and Rabbi Matondo were not willing to indulge.
McAtee would be forgiven for looking at the stacked creative department surrounding him on the bus to the Red Bull Arena this evening and thinking his interests are best served elsewhere but there is a bigger picture to observe.
Chelsea and City have been the two dominant forces in English youth football over the past decade. As the pair stacked up FA Youth Cup final appearances between them, it became a focus of derision elsewhere. What good were all these talented youngsters if there was no room for them in multi-million-pound senior squads?
But a glance over at Stamford Bridge and Thomas Tuchel’s European champions shows a squad where homegrown talent co-exists with international superstars.
Chelsea’s transfer ban and Frank Lampard’s tenure were a factor in this but they have not reverted to type despite a vast outlay since re-entering the market.
Eventually, after a period of heavy first-team expenditure, an elite youth setup catches up to the standard required.
Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi are players for Tuchel to rely upon without any expectation there are better bets elsewhere.
Foden will remain the standard-bearer but McAtee is one of the exceptional talents who mean a similar era could be around the corner for City. As fans clamour to see more of his sparkling skills in Saxony this evening, here’s hoping he hangs around to be a part of it.
How many of the EDS quintet would you like to see start for City at RB Leipzig? Follow our City Is Ours editor Dom Farrell on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
