Xavier Parker scored twice as Manchester City's Under-21s began their season with a 4-1 victory at Mansfield Town in the Vertu Trophy on Wednesday night. The 16-year-old midfielder has signed a new scholarship deal with City, which will automatically turn into a professional contract next summer, despite reported interest from Manchester United and Arsenal.
Parker's impressive display
Parker opened the scoring when he was afforded time and space on the edge of the box to pick his spot, and made it two shortly after when he prodded in from close range. Throughout the contest, Parker, who did not look out of place competing with seasoned EFL professionals, was a busy figure in the heart of midfield. Calm and confident on the ball, he also displayed excellent movement and was not afraid of the physical battle, engaging in more than one battle with half-time substitute Deji Oshilaja, a player more than twice his age.
Under-21 boss Oliver Reiss believes City have a special talent on their hands. "He is definitely (special)," said Reiss. "Not just because of the goals. You can see in a few moments (at Mansfield) that it is not the same anymore as playing in the age groups last season." Reiss added: "Now he can feel what he has to change but this is what we want, playing against these teams and qualities, physicalities. I can talk to him 100 times but it doesn't hurt against age-group teams, but here it hurts and he has to learn. On the one hand you can feel he has to improve a lot of things, of course, because he is young, but the potential is definitely high."
More loan moves expected
City are set to allow more academy players to depart on loan in the final 10 days of the transfer window. The Blues this week confirmed a move for Charlie Gray, with the midfielder linking up with League One side Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan, before Divine Mukasa moved to West Ham for the season, taking the tally of Blues youngsters out on loan elsewhere to 11.
That figure is expected to swell in the coming weeks. The likes of Matty Henderson-Hall, Stephen Mfuni, Luke Mbete and Jaden Heskey could all go out to gain first-team experience, while City must also weigh up the short-term future of new goalkeeper Max Chabot, who completed his arrival from Angers this week and signed a five-year deal at the Etihad.
Physical edge wanted
Reiss wants his young side to develop a physical edge this season alongside their technical ability. "Very often when you think about us as Manchester City you are thinking about technical ability, good in possession, keeping the ball and creating chances and all these things," he told the Manchester Evening News. "Yes, we have the players with these abilities, but playing against men's teams is more difficult. So the desire to defend and the way we defend is so important, the way we react when losing the ball."
"We want to be on our way to making professional players one day hopefully with most of them, so this (the EFL Trophy) gives us the first flavour and the demands. We want to win games but we need to at least take this experience to improve us as a team and the players individually."
Samba's confidence
Tyrone Samba is excited at what City Under-21s can achieve this season after they started the campaign with a bang. "We're a young team," he told the MEN. "This group can achieve big things, just like last year, we have a lot of players from last year and have that chemistry and fight to get through the season and achieve big things."
City's Under-18s also began their title defence with a 2-1 win over Liverpool. City Academy fixtures this week: Man United Under-18s vs Man City Under-18s, Under-18 Premier League, Saturday, 11am; Man City Under-21s vs Wolves Under-21s, Premier League 2, Joie Stadium, Monday, 7pm; Nottingham Forest Under-21s vs Man City Under-21s, Premier League 2, Friday, 7pm.
