Wilcox: Man City youngsters are ‘mind-blowing’

Like those who have come before him, Pep Guardiola hasn’t been afraid to splash the cash in his first season as Manchester City manager.

But the club’s head of Academy Jason Wilcox is adamant Guardiola won’t have to look too far afield for reinforcements in the future.

Guardiola’s arrival in Manchester coincided with the owners once again opening their seamlessly never-ending cheque books to bring in the best talent on offer.

That included paying big money to sign England defender John Stones, German teenager Leroy Sane and playmaker Ilkay Gundogan to name just a few who arrived this summer.

However, these big-money signings have been supplemented with stars from Manchester City’s youth academy, with the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho and Aleix Garcia featuring this term too.

And Wilcox, promoted to head of Academy coaching when Guardiola drafted Rodolfo Borrell into his backroom staff, insists the conveyor belt of young talent doesn’t stop there.

“I’m not someone who gets carried away, but I have never seen anything like the talent we have at this Academy,” said Wilcox.

“We have got kids here who are at a level that is just ­mind-blowing. It makes me hope that I am working here for the next ten years.

“We want Pep Guardiola to be spoilt for choice – and we are getting there.”