Manchester City & Paris Saint-Germain Must Become Havens for Young Players
By George Cannon
What do you do what you've got a bottomless pit of cash? Spend it all, of course. But the likes of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain need to think twice about carrying on in the same vein.
Eric Garcia became the latest City academy graduate to announce he wanted to leave the Etihad Stadium last week after it was announced he wasn't going to extend his contract. The 19-year-old arrived from La Masia in 2017 but now wants a return to his boyhood club.
The Spaniard will join compatriot Brahim Diaz and Jadon Sancho as high profile youngsters to leave Pep Guardiola's side before their 20th birthdays. Phil Foden is the anomaly rather than the rule.
The success of these players has been mixed though without a doubt. While Sancho has gone on to justify his decision, becoming one of the most highly-rated and sort after young players on the planet at Borussia Dortmund, Diaz has struggled for game time in Madrid.
Any player who moves to the Santiago Bernabeu as an unrecognised and little known star in the expectation of more game time is often misinformed. The midfielder made just six La Liga appearances this season, all of them from the bench.
Not all of the ones who get away will keep you up at night, but enough will. The sight of Sancho in a United shirt next season would be sufficient to keep several City fans tossing and turning until the early hours.
The same could be said for Garcia. He's a player who's received the trust and backing from one of the world's best coaches during this campaign, featured 13 times in the Premier League, displacing experienced pros in Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones along the way, and looks destined to become Gerard Pique's heir at Camp Nou.
PSG know all about this issue though, as it's been happening to them for years ever since Kingsley Coman turned his back on the French giants in 2014. Boubakary Soumare, Moussa Diaby, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Christopher Nkunku, Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard are the pick of the lengthy list of current stars who have gone on to have success after leaving the Parisians.
Yacine Adli and the troublesome Matteo Guendouzi are arguably the only two who the nine-time French champions will be glad to see the back of.
Spending over £300m in a single summer has become second nature to these clubs, but now it's time to find a compromise. A balance between heavy spending on that game-changing superstar and allowing a clear pathway for your most promising youngsters is often the optimum option for all concerned parties.
City and PSG would benefit greatly from transforming themselves into a breeding ground, not just a destination. Their fans, staff and players alike would prosper from the kudos of seeing their own succeeding with them.
Although the English and French super-rich sides will never be short of a penny, City's recent date in the Court of Arbitration for Sport over Financial Fair Play allegations should serve as a timely reminder that they can't afford to hoover up the world's best talent at any expense forever.
Even though the Cityzens were found to be innocent, it should have acted as a wake-up call for several sides' transfer policy - UEFA's obvious ineptness may prove otherwise, however.
Other than avoiding the governing bodies clutches, relying on a steady stream of homegrown talent as well as headline-grabbing arrivals will have other significant rewards.
If teenagers at home and across the continent see that there is little chance of first-team football at Parc des Princes or the Etihad Stadium they will stop joining those set-ups. Clubs such as Ajax and Monaco will become even more attractive options than they already are and big clubs with a reputation for trusting in young talents like Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund will be their destinations of choice.
Alongside the more practical and financial benefits, it would also provide a more personal advantage. Chelsea fans suffered similar jibes from opposition supports about how their club wasn't founded until unlimited wealth arrived.
Nevertheless, Frank Lampard's show of faith in academy graduates such as Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham and Reece James this season has altered that. It would make their success more genuine, authentic and likeable in the footballing world. Club don't appear to be bothered about achieving that but it would surely be more satisfying all the same.
Sure, spending money is fun, especially when you have more of it than you can count, but growing your own success tastes so much sweeter.