What happened to the Birmingham City wonderkid once wanted by Man Utd and Arsenal? | OneFootball

Foday Nabay was once talked up as football's next big thing, but now he plays in non-league

Football fans can often get carried away when it comes to labelling their brightest academy prospect as the next big thing.

Birmingham City thought they had one of the best teenage midfield prospects in the world a few years before they struck gold with Jude Bellingham, though.

Back in 2012, they were doing everything in their power to persuade 14-year-old Foday Nabay to stay at the club. All the big clubs were hoping to bring the young starlet to their academies, who already had England under-16 caps to his name.

14 years on, despite Nabay now being in his traditional prime years, you won't find many casual football fans who know him. Indeed, he's been in the non-league circuit for a good number of seasons now.

Foday Nabay was being courted by big Premier League sides aged 13

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Nabay was being tipped for big things. Born in Sierra Leone, he came over to Birmingham and, aged nine, was spotted playing for a local side by Birmingham City, who scouted him.

Four years later, the Blues were offering a 13-year-old midfielder everything they could to retain him: a two-year registration and a scholarship thereafter, to bat away rival interest.

Reports at the time stated that Nabay was of interest to the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, with Birmingham Live going on to state that, with the right development, he could hit the heights that Yaya Toure did during his career.

City's offer was said to be "massive," and a record-breaking deal for someone that age. Evidently, he was highly rated amongst all the top circles.

Lee Clark was massively disappointed when Foday Nabay left Birmingham City to join Fulham

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Unfortunately, despite staving off that interest in 2012, Nabay would quit Birmingham the following year, handing in a transfer request with a desire to move down to London.

Fulham would be the side to benefit from that decision, paying an undisclosed compensation fee for the highly-rated midfielder to join their academy.

Then-Blues boss Lee Clark struggled to hide his disappointment with the decision Nabay made, stating that he'd told the recently-turned 15-year-old that he'd likely become the youngest-ever Birmingham player later that season.

"I made it abundantly clear to Foday in several meetings with him that he had the potential to become the youngest-ever player to play for Birmingham City Football Club’s first team this season, at the age of 15," he said.

"That was how highly I rated him and how highly the club rated him. We wanted him to stay but, as a football manager, I couldn’t have done any more.

"I was offering him the opportunity that, as long as he continued in the way he was with his development and continued to show the qualities that he has, then there would be first-team openings for him.

"He’s going to a super club in Fulham because I know them very well, having spent seven great years there myself. But I just wish we could have had the time to make him part of my current group.

"It wasn’t to be; he’s made the decision. We wish him all the best for the future, and we’ll move forward.”

Foday Nabay didn't develop at Fulham and found himself in non-league in 2018

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Nabay spent five years in the Fulham academy system, and given all the hype which surrounded him, he could go down as one of the Cottagers' most disappointing prospect signings.

The midfielder made seven PL2 appearances for the West London outfit before he was released by mutual consent in March 2018. Aged just 19, he didn't land at a different elite academy, instead playing men's football below the EFL.

Nabay has four National League North appearances to his name for the likes of Nuneaton and Gloucester, and has played for the likes of Leicester Road, Stratford Town and Sheffield FC, who are recognised as the oldest existing football club in the world.

Last summer, he began the campaign by signing for Step 5 side Studley FC, before then making a move to United Counties League Division One (Step 6) outfit FCV Grace Dieu in October — a three-year-old semi-professional side based in Leicestershire.

After a 6th-placed finish last season, Nabay left the club at the end of the campaign, and it's unknown where his career has taken him next.

Foday Nabay professional career will always leave a massive "what if?" being asked among Birmingham City fans

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Birmingham knew how to develop young midfielders in their academy in the 2010s. One of them is highly regarded as one of the best players in the world at Real Madrid currently.

So, it begs the question whether Nabay, five years Bellingham's senior, could have set the precedent for the current England star to follow at St Andrew's if he had stayed at the club back in 2015.

It's unknown why Nabay didn't at least slightly underachieve the hype surrounding him. Whether it was a case of people getting too far ahead of themselves or a lack of progression at Fulham.