Over the last 72 hours, young Manchester City quartet Micah Hamilton, Finley Burns, Callum Doyle and Mahamadou Susoho have all edged closer to joining EFL sides, whether on loan or a permanent transfer with a buy-back clause.
For Hamilton and Susoho, their moves mark their first real foray into senior football whilst Doyle and Burns have never played outside the EFL.
This article will show that the English Football League is vital to Premier League academies in two main ways:
Firstly, by allowing a young player to familiarise themselves with a more physical style of football before moving up to the first team. Secondly, by giving young players the opportunity to prove themselves so that they can be sold on for significant fees.
Experience In Senior Football
Although the standard of football being played by the Man City academy is extremely high from a technical and tactical standpoint, it lacks an element of physicality.
Queens Park Rangers manager Marti Cifuentes spoke about how physically demanding the Championship is following his side’s pre-season friendly against Tottenham Hotspur at the end of June.
He said “In England, the data shows that the Championship is one of the most demanding leagues in terms of the rhythm of the game and how physical it is.
“That, together with the congested fixtures, makes it a very demanding league.
“When we plan how to prepare the squad and the way we want to play it is something we have to take into account.”
Young players need to experience this rougher style of football against players who are much older, and likely stronger than them so that they will be able to hold their own when they return to their parent clubs.
A prime example of this is James McAtee. The Salford-born midfielder made a handful of appearances for the Citizens before he joined Championship side Sheffield United on loan in the 2022/23 season.
McAtee was able to make 43 senior appearances throughout the campaign, scoring nine goals and becoming a key player as the Blades were promoted to the Premier League. Two seasons later, and Pep Guardiola has openly said that the 21-year-old will be used as a first-team player for the reigning Premier League champions this season.
This shows the importance of the EFL to Premier League academies as McAtee’s spell at Sheffield United has catapulted him from being a youngster who occasionally got minutes in dead-rubber games to a bona fide first-team option at the biggest club in England.
It is the sort of success that someone like Mahamadou Susoho should be aiming to emulate. The 19-year-old has joined Peterborough United, a team famous for nurturing young talent, on loan. He should use the experience he gains playing in the ever-competitive League One to try and catapult himself into a position as Rodri’s backup in a year or two’s time.
The EFL As A Shop Window
Unlike Hamilton and Susoho, who featured for City last season, Burns has not played for Guardiola’s side since the 2021/22 season and Doyle has never made an appearance for the current English champions.
The Football League can be a useful tool for these players as they look to secure themselves a permanent move away from Manchester in the hopes that they can find a long-term home.
This could be seen with Liam Delap, a striker who was once very highly-regarded in Manchester but has since secured himself a move elsewhere following a solid stint in the second tier. Delap scored on his debut for City in the Carabao Cup, leading to murmers that he could be seen as the long-term successor to Sergio Agüero.
Whilst this did not work out, the attacker has been able to slowly rebuild his reputation via loan moves in the EFL. He spent the first half of the 2022/23 season at Stoke City before finishing the campaign at Preston North End. Last season, he moved to Liam Rosenior’s Hull City and scored eight times in 31 appearances despite sustaining a fairly sizeable injury during the middle of the campaign.
Delap was able to demonstrate versatility as he was occasionally used on the wings, whilst also showing that he was beginning to find his goalscoring touch in senior football. This prompted Premier League new boys Ipswich Town to pay City just over £15 million to secure his services permanently.
It can be seen as a good deal both for the player, who finally has a chance to establish himself in the Premier League and the club, who can use that money to invest in more young players such as 14-year-old American wonderkid Cavan Sullivan.
Liam Delap’s story shows how pivotal the EFL is for Premier League academies as, when the arrivals of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez severely limited his opportunities for first-team minutes, he was able to prove himself in a competitive division and get his career back on track.
Callum Doyle may be taking a similar path to his fellow England Under-21 international teammate after he heads to Norwich City on loan for the upcoming season.
The move would mark the defender’s fourth temporary departure from the Etihad Stadium and with his competition at the Etihad being Josko Gvardiol, who is a similar age to Doyle, he may be better off elsewhere in the long run.
Conclusion
The English Football League is vital to the operation of Premier League academies.
It allows young players to build upon the very technical style of football played in academies by playing a much more physical game. This in turn prepares players for playing at the top level where a combination of technical ability and physicality are needed.
The EFL also allows players from Premier League academies who look like they will not break through into the first-team to forge a career outside of the club. There are numerous teams and managers who are happy to work with young players and take a chance on them as they look to find their place in football.