I was told I had to leave Man City by Pep Guardiola – now I’m 90 minutes from proving him wrong
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I was told I had to leave Man City by Pep Guardiola – now I’m 90 minutes from proving him wrong
There will be four Manchester City academy graduates in the Champions League final on Saturday as Real Madrid take on Borussia Dortmund.
Brahim Diaz made 15 appearances for Man City but would leave for Real Madrid in search of more playing time.
Brahim Diaz made 15 appearances for Man City but would leave for Real Madrid in search of more playing time.
Back in 2016, Manchester City’s Under-18s had an exciting attack consisting of Phil Foden, Brahim Diaz and Jadon Sancho. One is already a Champions League winner, and another will follow on Saturday night.
Add Felix Nmecha, who graduated from the City Football Academy a year or two later than the more recognisable trio, and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, and there will be four City representatives in Saturday’s showpiece at Wembley.
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Nmecha was released by City in 2021 in order to boost his career prospects, with his progress at Wolfsburg and Dortmund perhaps a sign they could have earned some profit from him. Sancho’s path is well documented, making the leap to Dortmund where he made his name, before an ill-fated move to Manchester United and now a loan move back to Germany. City have profited by around £20m over the course of his post-City career.
Bynoe-Gittens swapped City for Dortmund in 2020 and has appeared in all but one of his side’s previous 23 Bundesliga games this season. Then there is Brahim Diaz, the player who got closest of the trio to breaking into Pep Guardiola’s first team, after Foden of course. Diaz made 15 appearances for Guardiola, scoring twice and revelling in the Etihad crowd singing his name after scoring both goals in a Carabao Cup win over Fulham.
The hopes of him and Foden graduating successfully into the first team were high, and Guardiola clearly liked the young Spaniard, but as Foden found out competition was fierce on the wings for City. He only started four times, all in the League Cup, averaging just 27 minutes across his 15 outings in Sky Blue. He also enjoyed some success on pre-season tours, strengthening his bond with Guardiola, but also entrenching his belief that he should be playing more.
While Foden waited and trusted Guardiola, Diaz took an approach similar to Sancho a couple of years earlier. He wanted to play more and made his feelings known. With his contract expiring in 2019, Diaz stalled over an extension, seeking assurances over playing time.
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City were prepared to risk him leaving on a free, but were also aware of his value. And Guardiola wouldn’t be forced into playing anyone more or less than he wanted to.
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Brahim Diaz celebrates with Leroy Sane and Phil Foden after scoring his only two City goals against Fulham in the EFL Cup.
“My advice is if he doesn’t want to stay, he has to leave,” said Guardiola as the contract stand-off continued. “The case of Brahim is very simple: we want him to stay, we want to extend his contract for four or five years and we’ll do absolutely everything to keep him here but, as I said before, it’s in his hands.”
By publicly telling Diaz to leave, albeit with a caveat that he wanted him to stay, Guardiola had called the youngster’s bluff. Either sign the contract or go, but the manager’s position wouldn’t change. Diaz opted to leave.
As the January transfer window approached in 2019, Diaz lined up a high-profile switch to Real Madrid, earning City an initial £15.5m rising to a potential £22m. City also inserted a sell-on clause of 15 per cent of his next transfer fee, or 40 per cent if Real were to sell him to Manchester United. That particular clause garnered a lot of headlines.
Diaz was delighted, and City had received a healthy sum for another graduate. “I did not want to go anywhere else after Manchester City: my first choice was Real Madrid, my second choice was Real Madrid and my third choice was Real Madrid,” he said after joining Los Blancos.
He wrote a heartfelt farewell to City, thanking the club for welcoming his family to Manchester and “for believing in me because they taught me not only to be a better player but a better person”. He added: “And thank you, of course, to every single Manchester City supporter. I will never forget having my name chanted from the stands the night we beat Fulham in the League Cup.”
Guardiola moved to protect City’s image after another big name departed the academy, painting the deal as a bonafide success story. “We protect him, before we arrive in this period – it was the same with Jadon and Phil. But he has to decide and it’s no more than that,” he had said.
“They cannot say we didn’t do absolutely everything to take care of them, him and his families – like a human being, like a person, like a football player. We cannot push more than we pushed with Brahim, for example, or with the other ones. They arrive as young kids, but the market is the market.
“What can we do? More than we have done? No way. The club did perfectly in all cases but the desire is the desire. Maybe they visualise they are going to play and believe in other places they are going to play. Maybe, maybe not. We will see.”
After Diaz left, Guardiola offered a parting barb, telling the youngster that his assessment of his situation at City was not as simple as he made out. “I don’t want people who don’t want to stay here, to be with us and try to achieve what we want to achieve,” the manager said.
Brahim Diaz at his Real Madrid unveiling (Image: AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
“If players want to stay, the door is always open for them. We did the same with Brahim as we did with Phil and Jadon. They are important players but the only one who decided to stay was Phil.
“Players win opportunities on the field. You have to take a look at all big clubs in Europe at how many young players there are in their first teams. Young players need time – David Silva, for example, he went on loan to big clubs to become what he is right now.
“Some players have patience, some don’t. The players, their family, their agent; they decide what is best for them.”
Initially, Diaz looked justified in his decision to leave, making six appearances in the second half of the campaign for his new club, earning a La Liga winner’s medal in the process. But he had a difficult first full season, spending the next three years on loan at AC Milan, with an option for the Italian side to buy him permanently for £18m, although Real could then buy him back for £23m.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – APRIL 17: Brahim Diaz player of Real Madrid during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg match between Manchester City and Real Madrid CF at Etihad Stadium on April 17, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Antonio Villalba/Real Madrid via Getty Images)
Diaz returned to the Etihad this season to knock City out of the Champions League and he can win the European Cup on Saturday at Wembley.
As it happened, Diaz’s loan was a success, scoring 18 goals and recording 15 assists in 124 appearances, and he returned to Real a better player as well as a Serie A champion – his third league title in as many countries.
He signed an extension at Real on his return and has successfully reintegrated himself into Carlo Ancelotti’s side this term. He scored a decisive goal against Atletico Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana and a crucial Champions League last-16 first-leg winner at RB Leipzig in a Man of the Match performance.
Diaz got a decent reception when returning to the Etihad for the quarter-final, and will now hope to play some part in the final, most likely off the bench. If he adds the Champions League to his collection, he will feel his decision to leave City was vindicated – even if he has taken the long route to achieve success at Real.
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