Being a member of the infamous 'Class of '92' Gary Neville might be in the best position to talk about players coming through clubs' academy systems and he's clearly not impressed with Manchester City.
Manchester United have an incredible reputation for creating players from their academy, whether they become first team players at Old Trafford or have to move on many of them end up in the Premier League.
Obviously during the Sir Alex Ferguson era that was a staple of the legendary manager's reign as Neville, his brother Phil, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Ryan Giggs were involved in much of that success.
Some of United's most successful players of all time won the FA Youth Cup together and then went on to win the Treble with the first team. Image: PA
Advert
But even in a post Fergie world the Old Trafford club have continued that tradition giving 23 graduates their first team debuts.
Things at rivals Manchester City haven't quite worked out like that so far despite lots of money pumped into their academy. However in the friendly between the two sides earlier this week teenager Phil Foden was extremely impressive.
But Neville, now a pundit for Sky Sports, doesn't believe that the young midfielder will get many first team chances at the Etihad:
Foden was very impressive for City. Image: PA
Advert
The 17 year old from Stockport got plenty of headlines as United ran out 2-0 winners over their local rivals in Houston with Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford scoring the goals.
Jose Mourinho's continued use of Rashford and Jesse Lingard helped United top the charts of minutes played by academy products last season in the Premier League.
It remains to be seen if any young City players can really break into the team, it would be great to see Foden do it.
Featured Image Credit:
