Manchester City fans will always be grateful to Steven Gerrard for his 2014 slip, but the new Aston Villa manager has also played a small role in helping their academy talent.
Gerrard's first job cutting his coaching teeth came as Liverpool Under-18s boss, where he spent a year before getting the call from Rangers to go and unseat Celtic in the Scottish Premiership.
It was while he was at Liverpool's academy that the former midfielder came across City youngster Tommy Doyle as the teams met in the Under-18s league.
Doyle, the grandson of two City legends in Glyn Pardoe and Mike Doyle, is about as Blue as they come. But while he may have since fashioned his game on Kevin De Bruyne he has been happy to say that he grew up adoring the performances of Gerrard leading Liverpool for years.
To the delight of a young Doyle, he was then pulled to one side after an Under-18s meeting with Liverpool by the man himself and had a few conversations with him that year where the former player gave some career advice to the promising talent.
Amazed that Gerrard had recognised him and thankful for the advice, Doyle kicked on in the City academy and caught the eye of Pep Guardiola at the Etihad a year later; after training with the senior squad for some months, his senior debut came with a start in the Carabao Cup at home to Southampton in October 2019.
Doyle is spending this season on loan at Hamburg in the German second division, a league packed with big clubs whose current standings have attracted attention. The 20-year-old did not have the fastest starts but has quickly become a fan favourite, helped by an injury-time winner against Paderborn last month.
City are following Doyle's progress keenly as they assess their midfield options for next season.
