A chance for players of the future to shine.
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00:00 And looking down the list at the FA Youth Cup final that City find themselves in,
00:06 obviously over the years there's been some fantastic names and fantastic players who've gone and won it and then come through and have a glistening career.
00:13 Obviously we've mentioned a few times City's talents that they bring from the academy to the first side, obviously Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, even Tommy Doyle as well.
00:24 Players like this who are fit for top flight football, it's a massive occasion and it's something you definitely want to win.
00:31 Yeah, and I think from a junior football perspective it is the biggest stage you can play on.
00:36 I would say, certainly in England anyway, bigger than the UEFA Youth League. It's never really taken off that here in England.
00:42 But I would say that for now, for these young players, it is an opportunity to go and showcase their talent.
00:47 I mean over the years it was traditional before they made the big step up to senior football. It's not quite as simple as that these days, is it?
00:55 And you've got a lot of players who are going low and it's so difficult to get in that Pep Guardiola squad anyway.
01:01 But City have, for a number of years now I think, established themselves as the best youth side in the country.
01:07 Sorry, my phone's gone off beside me.
01:09 And certainly in terms of producing youth talent, I think them and Chelsea are first and second.
01:14 I would have City first in my eyes and the talent they have produced.
01:17 I mean, just look at the last time they won the Youth Cup in the final.
01:20 The three goalscorers were Morgan Rodgers, James McAtee and Cole Palmer.
01:24 Well, three players who are Premier League regulars at this stage.
01:27 It's only four years on, so I think that speaks to a lot.
01:30 And look, you've got Foden, but you've also got more players coming through recently.
01:33 Rico Lewis, you've even got the likes of Oscar Ball coming through in the first team.
01:37 Micah Hamilton playing this year. There's a couple of others as well who have played.
01:40 And I think that, from City's perspective as well, the Under 18s have been fantastically successful in the last couple of years.
01:46 But the Youth Cup is the big trophy. They've only won that three times in their history.
01:50 Only once in the Abu Dhabi era, shall we say.
01:54 They'll want to win this. And they'll want to win this trophy to showcase that they are the best at this level still.
02:00 And at Under 18 level, I think they've won three or four titles back to back.
02:04 This year, Manchester United won the title.
02:06 They won the Premier League Cup as well. So the kind of three trophies on offer.
02:11 They do have the Youth League as well, but a bit more of a complicated one.
02:14 But on the three domestic trophies on offer, this is the last one available to them that they can potentially win to try and end the season with a bit of silverware.
02:22 So I think they'll certainly want to do that.
02:25 And look, I suspect between City and Leeds, you'll look back in this team, the two teams in a couple of years,
02:32 and pick quite a few Premier League players and quite a few stars of the future.
02:36 And in the build up, myself and a few other reporters went and spoke to Ben Wilkinson, the manager.
02:41 Spoke to him a couple of weeks ago before the Premier League Cup final.
02:44 He's a really engaging guy, really interesting backstory. I won't go into that now just for time constraints.
02:49 But really, really fascinating kind of career and retired from football at 24 and moved into coaching.
02:55 And I think he very much just focuses on bringing through as much talent as possible.
03:00 Also spoke to Jemai Simpson-Poosay, head of the game as well.
03:05 All these articles are on Manchester World or certainly will be in the very near future.
03:09 And he was a really engaging character as well.
03:12 Sender Baku, I think will be a Premier League player in the years to come.
03:15 England underage international and spoke with real confidence and maturity.
03:20 So, yeah, it's a game I'm actually really looking forward to.
03:22 Something slightly different for me as well.
03:26 And yeah, I mean, I should mention tickets still available.
03:29 It's at the Etihad on Friday night, 7pm kickoff, which is an advantage to the city, of course, being at home.
03:34 And yeah, it's a game that I think will be a fantastic opportunity to see a few stars for the future.