Manchester City goalkeeper switches national team allegiance – Player viewed as ‘leader of the generation’ | OneFootball

One of Manchester City’s up and coming goalkeeping talents has switched his national team allegiances over to Central America from England.

That concerns the international future of Lucas Alvarado, who is a Manchester City fan through family connections to the club and is often featuring as a ballboy within the senior men’s team matches at the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking during a recent feature on Manchester City’s official club website, Alvarado explained, “I became a City fan because of my mum’s passion when I was young and have supported them for as long as I can remember.

“I’m a ballboy and play at the CFA, so I spend so much time at City. For every first team game, I have to be there earlier than most so that I can meet the other ballboys and get ready to play my part.”

The teenager went on to state on his ballboy experiences, “Sitting that closely to the game, I see the team spirit they have. The way they stick together and the passion they have on and off the pitch makes me a very proud fan and inspires me too.

“Watching City play under Pep Guardiola, I have enjoyed watching football more than ever. He makes things look so easy and is a genius.”

And it seems as though the inspired nature of Lucas Alvarado from his experiences at the Etihad Stadium are driving him on to greater things on the global scale, with the player and his family making a big decision over his long-term international future.

According to the information of AS, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness, Guatemala ‘went out of their way’ to secure Manchester City’s highly-rated goalkeeping talent Lucas Alvarado.

The 15-year-old is reportedly considered ‘one of the most promising goalkeepers in the world’, and despite being born in England and representing the Three Lions, the Guatemalan Federation have put together a successful pursuit of his longer-term commitments.

It is explained that Alvarado has a grandfather with Guatemalan nationality, and the Federation had meetings with the player’s family and showed them their development program, with a tour of the countries sports facilities also taking place.

Sport Witness go on to speculate that Alvarado will likely be in the country’s squad for the under-17 World Cup in February 2025, while the plan is reportedly for him to become the ‘leader of the generation’ in future.

Manchester City are yet to see one of their Academy goalkeeping talents breakthrough into the first-team picture on a regular basis, but have seen numerous profiles go on to make strong careers elsewhere in English football.

Among those names are James Trafford and Arijanet Muric, with both stoppers featuring regularly in the Premier League last season, and the latter going on to make a big-money move to Ipswich Town in the top-flight over the summer months.

Gavin Bazunu is also a regular for the Republic of Ireland international side and played a big role in the success of Southampton under Russell Martin, whilst the aforementioned Trafford was also selected for international duty with Lee Carsley’s England in recent months.