Jeremy Doku acts as ‘inspiration’ to rising Manchester City Academy star | OneFootball

Manchester City EDS star Ryan McAidoo has said that first-team winger Jeremy Doku has ‘inspired’ his play style as he continues to work closely with the senior squad.

The 17-year-old, signed from Chelsea in August 2024, has also previously played at Colchester United during the earliest stages of his career, and has gone from strength to strength since continuing development at the City Football Academy.

This season alone, McAidoo already has five goal contributions across his seven appearances to date across competitions, and will no doubt be looking to better last season’s hugely impressive tally of 23 goal contributions across 42 matches.

McAidoo has also been involved in the first-team matchday squad once for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side, named among the substitutes in the 5-1 home win against Burnley, but continues to await his senior debut.

That outing was then followed up by an impressive showing in European competition, as the versatile winger scored a magical goal in Manchester City’s 3-5 UEFA Youth League win away at AS Monaco.

Speaking in the aftermath of the victory in the south of France, McAidoo told the club’s official website that he has worked ‘really hard’ to improve his end product this season.

“It’s something I’ve worked really hard on because you reap what you sow. So then I can do stuff like that on the pitch,” said the winger.

The talent was further asked for who his inspirations are currently, with McAidoo describing first-team star Jeremy Doku as ‘top.’

“There is a lot at the moment [players I look up to]. Doku is definitely up there because of his agility, everything, Doku is just top. He’s even improved his end product, which is what I feel like I need to improve on as well. Currently, it’s Doku [my biggest inspiration] at the moment.”

Jeremy Doku himself has four goal contributions this season so far across all competitions, after three Premier League assists and a stunning solo goal against Napoli in the UEFA Champions League’s league phase.

The 23-year-old recently won Manchester City’s Player of the Month award for September, where he racked up all of his goal contributions so far this season last month and followed up Tijjani Reijnders’ success in August.

After signing from Stade Rennais in the summer of 2023, Jeremy Doku has been cut out to be a frustrating figure to watch at times but has been praised by many for his performances this season, and rightly so.

The way the Belgian dazzles past defenders is unstoppable and he is no doubt a player that opposition full-backs must dread to play against rather than relish, so it is not surprising to hear of Ryan McAidoo’s strong praise of Jeremy Doku.