Pep's Special Ones: City transform their academy into a ultimate talent factory

Early on Sunday morning, Manchester City’s Under 15s will make their way to the £13,300-a-year St Bede’s private school. Some whose parents don’t have cars will take the train and a bus to reach class on time. And until the day is done, that journey is the only thing they have to worry about.

Once a bus is ready to pick up the squad for a four-mile trip to the City Football Academy in the afternoon, everything is taken care of. Cereal before training with their kit already laid out in the dressing room, a session learning Pep Guardiola’s way, and then a high-protein hot meal together afterwards. Smoothies are on hand, devised by the academy’s specific nutritionist.

‘Everything is all there for them,’ a source says. ‘City’s academy is run like some Premier League clubs. It’s like a club in its own right.’

That is in focus this week ahead of Sunday's Manchester derby and after the encouraging exploits of Liverpool’s kids at Wembley and Anfield. The North West, as one agent puts it, represents a bunfight for talent between the big four of the region: City, Liverpool, Manchester United and Everton. The Manchester giants are likely to share up to 10 academy graduates at the Etihad Stadium — numbers boosted by United’s injury problems.

They all go about developing players in different ways. United’s programme is less regimented, focused on individualism and flair, while sources claim that City treat their 12-year-olds like ‘mini professionals’, with psychologists and extra help available at the click of their fingers.

The private education does give City an edge with some. James McAtee, now 21 and on loan at Sheffield United, was part of the first cohort to experience St Bede’s and all its trappings. There are usually around 100