Brahim Diaz

Having swapped Malaga for City as a 14-year-old, Spanish midfielder Brahim Diaz has progressed rapidly through the ranks at the City Football Academy. With an extensive bag of tricks in his locker, the fleet-footed play maker enjoyed a fruitful time in the Academy, before making his first team debut and signing his maiden professional contract last season. A 1-1 draw with Liverpool in November 2015 marked the then 16-year-old's debut for the U18s, registering his first goal three weeks later in the 2-2 draw with Blackburn. The Spaniard ended his first year as an Academy scholar with silverware as he helped Jason Wilcox's side to the Barclays U18 Premier League title. He continued to impress that summer at the European U17 Championships with Spain. Brahim netted three goals during the tournament, including one in the final as the young Spaniard finished runners-up to Portugal. Early in the 2016/17 campaign, Pep Guardiola named Diaz in his matchday squad for the first time on 21 September against Swansea in the EFL Cup. The manager introduced him from the bench for the final 10 minutes of the 2-1 victory, to hand Brahim his City debut aged just 17 years and 49 days old. In what proved to be a landmark week, the young man from Malaga penned his maiden professional contract five days later. He continued to star for Simon Davies' EDS side, netting seven goals in 17 starts and proving his versatility as he played both in the No.10 role and occasionally as a striker. For the second year, he was central to the U18s' journey to the FA Youth Cup final and produced several stellar showings, scoring in the 4-0 win over Reading and the 6-0 semi-final victory against Stoke. Ahead of the 2017/18 season, Brahim was included in the first team squad for the US pre-season tour, scoring a spectacular goal against Real Madrid, and he was featured in several games throughout the title-winning campaign.