Early Manchester City line-up hint as two teenagers expected for Napoli clash | OneFootball

An early hint surrounding two teenagers and their first-team fate has dropped ahead of Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League clash with Napoli on Thursday night.

Pep Guardiola’s use of Academy talent has been one of the underlying themes of the last few seasons, with Manchester City’s injury problems and a congested schedule opening doors for the next generation.

The likes of Oscar Bobb and Nico O’Reilly have already made telling steps into Guardiola’s plans in recent months, while Claudio Echeverri’s rapid progress since his January arrival has kept the pathway from youth to senior football firmly under the spotlight.

City’s Champions League campaign adds an extra layer of intrigue, with matches under the lights historically being occasions where Guardiola has introduced emerging stars into his senior squad, either from the bench or within an expanded matchday roster.

That approach now looks set to continue against Napoli this week, with two teenage prospects set to be in contention after a subtle but telling squad decision on Wednesday. The clash comes at a crucial stage of the season, with Guardiola’s men having been criticised in some quarters for inconsistency.

Against that backdrop, the potential inclusion of teenagers carries both risk and opportunity, with a chance to showcase depth, but also an expectation that the senior leaders shoulder responsibility against one of Europe’s most dangerous sides.

Now, having trained with the wider first-team group in a 25-man squad on Wednesday afternoon, both Stephen Mfuni and Divine Mukasa have been excluded from the club’s UEFA Youth League meeting at Joie Stadium on Thursday.

Fellow Academy teammate Reigan Heskey, who also trained with Pep Guardiola’s first-team, started for the club’s Under-19 set-up, indicating that the aforementioned pair will be involved in the senior clash over at the Etihad Stadium.

For Mukasa, the opportunity is another step in a remarkable rise for the 18-year-old attacking midfielder, having registered 16 goals and 15 assists in the Under-18 Premier League last season, marking himself out as one of the brightest creative prospects in the Academy.

As for Mfuni, the teenage defender has been tipped internally as one to watch for future first-team minutes, particularly given Manchester City’s long-term plans around central defensive depth.

Speculation will now turn to whether Pep Guardiola opts to name either on the substitutes’ bench or hand them an even greater opportunity. While a starting role is unlikely, both could feature late on, especially if City are in control of the game.

Longer-term, their involvement underlines Manchester City’s determination to maintain a conveyor belt of homegrown and youth talent into Pep Guardiola’s senior first-team plans. Just as Rico Lewis became a breakthrough figure in 2023, Mukasa and Mfuni could be next in line.