VLADIMIR Weiss and Ben Mee are the first two Youth Cup winning youngsters to be given their chance to stake a first-team claim under new boss Mark Hughes.
And the new manager has made it clear that he will continue the trend of City bosses by giving home-produced kids the chance to shine at senior level.
Hughes is determined to be involved in all sections of the club and has already indicated that he would prefer the all-conquering Academy to be relocated alongside the first team at the Carrington headquarters.
It is something that has been suggested in the past and cost studies of moving some, if not all, the production line from Platt Lane have already been set in motion.
Electrifying right-winger Weiss and left-footed defender Mee were included in the training squad that was last week whipped into shape on the Austria-Germany border and both got a taste of the action in the midweek friendly.
Slovakian Weiss's trickery and pace made him one of the outstanding performers in the Blues capture of the prestigious FA Youth Cup last season whilst fellow teenager Mee caught the eye with mature leadership from the heart of the defence, though many at the Academy would like to see him operate as a left-back.
Sale-raised Mee, who has just been called into England's Under 19 side, also went on the post-season trip to Thailand and featured in the two games but Weiss missed out through injury and is now ready to show what he can do.
Those two and the more established strikers Ched Evans - who is being chased by no fewer than ten Championship sides after last season's exploits at Norwich City - and Daniel Sturridge are seemingly heading the latest pack of teens waiting to follow in the boot prints of Michael Johnson, Nedum Onuoha, and Micah Richards.
Desire
Though Shaleum Logan was also given his chance to shine in pre-season, he made his senior bow last season before being loaned out.
Hughes, meanwhile, has stated his desire to have an impact on every area at the club - not just in the first team dressing room.
"I am young enough to still have that energy and drive not just to drive a team but also a club," he declared.
"I want to be able to build from within. I have seen it happen with older managers where that determination to drive a club forward as a whole isn't there because it saps their energy and what they do on the training pitch and on a match day becomes enough for them.
"I think I am young enough and have enough energy to be involved in every part of what we do here.
"The Academy is part of that and it is first-class. The quality of the players it has produced in recent years suggests there is very little wrong with what the operation is doing at the moment.
"I like to give youth its chance and I know that City fans, like to see `their own' coming through.
"Those players have a real empathy with the club. They regard it as `theirs' and they desperately want to play. If you get a nucleus of players like that together then they have something extra.
"It is all right having two separate sites but in the future I think that will be addressed," he concluded.
"I think it would help everything to have the first team and the senior academy in one place. Sometimes, for whatever reason, there can be a break down in communication about the roles that both are fulfilling and if you are not careful there can be problems but the Academy is first class.
"It is not a case of me coming in and changing everything. If it is not broken I am not going to fix it."
Which young players do you think will make the breakthrough this summerr? Have your say.
Crikey the guy looks 12 years old
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