Manchester City have seen one of their rising stars within their youth ranks nominated for the prestigious Golden Boy award for 2022.
Officials at the Etihad Stadium are known for scouring the globe for the next big thing to emerge in the game, while also recruiting and spending big money on more established young talents from across the planet.
The most recent examples of their highly-publicised youth recruitments have come in the form of Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, and River Plate gem Julian Alvarez - both of whom are expected to link-up with their new teammates ahead of the new season.
However, some of their more unknown talents are often recognised as being players to watch for the future, and this week, it has been confirmed that Manchester City have one nominee up for the 2022 edition of Tuttosport's Golden Boy award.
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That player is 20 year-old Brazilian youth international, Yan Couto - who spent the 2021/2022 season on-loan at Portuguese club SC Braga, in a move that proved highly successful for the former Coritiba man.
Across 28 senior appearances in Portugal's top-flight, Couto registered a total of one goal and a further three assists, while his overall performances for the club were regarded by many within the game to be of exceptional levels.
Such was the success of his time in Portugal that there is a great chance that Manchester City may deem a return to the side as necessary for the forthcoming season, especially given the strength that Pep Guardiola's side possesses in the right-sided full-back area of the defensive line.
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Nevertheless, there remains the possibility that Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City coaching staff may still choose to assess the levels of Yan Couto during the coming pre-season period, when the Premier League champions will travel to the United States to take on Club America and Bayern Munich.
Since the aforementioned award was first handed out in 2003 - to Ajax's Rafael van der Vaart - Manchester City have only ever had one winner of the prize, with Mario Balotelli taking home the trophy in 2010, albeit largely for his performances in an Inter Milan shirt.
Previous winners to have played for Manchester City include Sergio Aguero in 2007 - while the Argentine was at Atletico Madrid, and Raheem Sterling - while he was plying his trade for Liverpool at the time. Erling Haaland also took home the award in 2020, and will be looking to build on the crown when he joins the Etihad club this summer.
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You can check out the full list of 100 nominees for the 2022 Golden Boy award here.
Topics: Manchester City, Football, Premier League
Freddie Pye