Foden, Palmer and £500m raised

What Pep likes in young players So what happens when the young players are in front of Guardiola and the host of Premier League winners in the City team?

 “Pep is very open-minded in terms of the players being able to discover for themselves what they’re good at,” adds Barry-Murphy. “But he expects to have as fully rounded a player as possible when they come across.

“He’s so good in what he expects from the young players. He knows they all have a high level of technical ability, he knows they’re all pretty good players because of where they are.

“It’s all about the attention to detail of how they apply themselves, that’s what he looks for more than anything else.

“He’s very, very patient in technical improvements that the players may need to demonstrate because of their age. But if he sees something that doesn’t look right in the mentality or the effort, then he’s pretty demanding, as you can imagine.”

Of course, the chances of impressing to a significant extent are minimal. First and foremost, the quality of the City squad and the high demands of elite professional football mean Guardiola does not give chances to young players lightly.

City’s manager gave just 807 minutes of Premier League minutes to teenagers last season: all of them went to one player, Rico Lewis – who actually did not play in the EDS as he skipped that stage and went straight into Guardiola’s first team from the U18s.

And City tend to add to their top talent via the transfer market over their academy. Young, unproved players from afar such as Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and most recently Julian Alvarez are bought and then sold for profits.

That is even before the best young players in the world – Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, Josko Gvardiol and Savinho as recent examples – are signed to bolster the ranks.

Even with Bobb and McAtee near the first team, Foden is the only EDS player to break into Pep’s team and become a regular. And the England international is being branded a generational talent. Not all have his skills and potential. 

“The players are pretty clear in their heads that the chances of progressing at the club are quite minimal based on the quality of the first team,” says Barry-Murphy about how to manage the EDS players’ expectations.

“But they’re switched on and educated that the more exposure they can have with Pep and the first team, it is going to inevitably help their next steps.

“And the proof is in the pudding of the calibre of players and clubs who they’ve moved on to.”