Update: Inside Man City academy as two youngsters drafted into Pep Guardiola plans amid injury wait News

The latest Manchester City academy news as two academy players get late call-ups to Pep Guardiola’s first team plans.

It’s crunch time this week at the City Football Academy – and not just because Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side are chasing a Champions League spot.

In the academy, City remain on course for three trophies and could be just six wins away from that treble – four wins in the Premier League 2 play-offs and two wins at under-18 level. However, a first team injury has seen Guardiola’s top five chase take priority and two youngsters have been called away from their academy trophy bid and drafted into the first team picture.

With the route to winning the two academy titles now clearer after this weekend’s fixtures, we bring you the latest news from the City Football Academy going into a huge week.

Two youngsters get senior call-ups

With Ederson injured against Crystal Palace recently, Pep Guardiola has turned to two academy goalkeepers to take his place in the first team squad. Guardiola’s team will always take priority but with the under-21s finishing first in the Premier League 2 and preparing for the end-of-season play-offs, Ederson’s injury disrupts the academy preparations somewhat.

Oliver Whatmuff has been called up to first team training this week to assist Stefan Ortega and Scott Carson, while Spike Brits was selected to travel to Everton on Saturday with no under-21 fixture and Whatmuff in the under-18 squad as their title challenge continues.

Brits, Whatmuff and Max Hudson have all acted as the third goalkeeper in senior matchday squads this season to take part in the warm-up and be ready to step up to the bench if needed. The extent of Ederson’s injury is yet to be confirmed, but if he faces a spell out then it opens opportunities for the young goalkeepers to gain valuable first team experience in the race for Champions League football.

And on the other side of that – someone like Jack Wint may find himself with a bigger role to play in the academy hunt for the Premier League 2 play-off crown, or Hudson when it comes to the FA Youth Cup and U18 Premier League.

Play-off path set

That PL2 play-off will see the top 16 teams from this season’s division compete for the title – meaning City’s first place finish will go unrecognised without a trophy if they cannot get through four more games.

The last-16 tie against Liverpool, who scraped into the play-offs in the final round of matches, will take place this Friday (April 25) at the Joie Stadium with Arsenal or Newcastle awaiting in a potential quarter-final. City’s position as top seeds guarantees home advantage in all games, and a possible semi-final will be against Manchester United, Everton, West Ham or Sunderland.

On the other side of the draw, top seeds include second-placed Fulham as well as Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Southampton. So if City want to regain their PL2 crown in the new-look format, they may have to beat Liverpool, Arsenal, United and Chelsea to restore their status as the best academy in the country.

When can the under-18s win the title?

26 wins in a row for Oliver Reiss’ under-18s has the youth team potentially just two more victories from a memorable league-and-cup double. However, while the FA Youth Cup final can wait for another couple of weeks, the under-18 Premier League remains in the balance with Manchester United not giving up in second place.

City’s 6-0 win at Middlesbrough this weekend featured braces from Ryan McAidoo and Matty Warhurst – making it 23 goals for Warhurst this season. Reigan Heskey was also on target for his 27th goal of the campaign to go with his nine assists, all in 36 appearances. The win kept City five points ahead of Manchester United with two games remaining, although United have a game in hand.

That game in hand is after City’s campaign wraps up, though, so any dropped points could prolong the title race for another week. But if City beat Derby on Saturday and United fail to beat Everton, the title would be City’s early. If both teams win this weekend, City will secure the title the following week on May 3 by beating Newcastle away, while four points from the last two games could allow United to leapfrog City on goal difference but they are nine goals behind on that metric.

In general, City know if they keep doing what they have done for the last 26 games – winning – they will be champions again.

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