Manchester City decided against offering two of their academy regulars new contracts in order to boost their future career prospects.
City have a number of talented youngsters knocking on the door of the first team after completing a unique Premier League treble in 2021/22.
After the first team won the league, the under-23s were victorious in the Premier League 2 and the under-18s won their Northern Premier League division before overcoming Fulham in the national final. At one point at the end of the season, City held all youth trophies before Aston Villa won the 2021 FA Youth Cup.
The academy is currently undergoing changes, with U23 coach Enzo Maresca departing to take the senior job at Parma, while U18 coach Carlos Vicens has been promoted to a first-team role. Pep Guardiola also confirmed that 'two or three' EDS players will be permanent members of the senior squad next season.
However, the pathway to the first team is crowded, even if more youngsters are proving themselves capable of catching Pep Guardiola's eye. And two familiar faces in the academy, Adrian Bernabe and Felix Nmecha, won't be in contention for those first-team roles after being released upon the expiry of their contracts this week.
Twenty-year-old left-sided player Bernabe took to social media on Thursday to pen a classy farewell to City, and forward Nmecha, also 20, will also depart after being named on the club's released list.
City opted against renewing the contract of both youngsters so they could seek opportunities to better progress their careers elsewhere.
Both players had featured for the first team in 2020/21, but saw fellow academy teammates given more chances as the season progressed.
Bernabe made five senior appearances in total, with Nmecha featuring three times. They leave having been key members of the victorious U23 squad, and had been more senior members of City's EFL Trophy squads in the last two seasons.
Nmecha's older brother Lukas is also set to depart City after a successful loan at Anderlecht last season. The striker is in line for a permanent exit as City look to raise funds to buy a big-name replacement for Sergio Aguero.
