From David Ornstein: Manchester City beat Premier League rivals to six-figure deal for Championship starlet

Manchester City have reportedly won the race to sign highly-rated Championship starlet Timeo Whisker ahead of competition from within the Premier League.

The teenage prospect becomes the latest in a long line of recruited youth talents picked up by Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City colleagues, as the Etihad club look towards decades of successive silverware across age groups.

At a more senior level, Manchester City recently reached a total agreement with fellow City Football Group side ESTAC Troyes over the signing of Brazilian winger Savio, who has been excelling whilst on loan at La Liga high-flyers Girona.

The wide group enables Manchester City to have the choice of either developing players within their esteemed City Football Academy age groups, or by sending them into senior football at one of their sister clubs where the monitoring and coaching process aligns.

Now, City’s latest search for rising talents has taken them into the Championship, where club scouts have identified one name as being a player worthy of a top-level price tag and the investment ahead of rival suitors.

According to the information of The Athletic’s David Ornstein, officials at Manchester City are expected to beat ‘a number of Premier League rivals’ to the signing of highly-rated Cardiff City prospect Timeo Whisker.

It is detailed that the 15-year-old has excelled in Cardiff’s youth system, leading to interest from some of the country’s leading sides, with the reigning Premier League champions winning that race.

City are reported to have seen an offer worth around £250,000 accepted by Cardiff, while Whisker will now undergo a medical examination before putting pen to paper on a schoolboy registration, should all proceed as planned.

Manchester City’s conveyor belt of talent production at the City Football Academy has also been an immense revenue driver for the football club over recent years, in a further testament to the standards set by club officials and coaching staff.

The summer market of 2023 saw a number of high-profile academy graduates make big-money moves away from City, most notably Cole Palmer of Wythenshawe, who put pen to paper on a £40 million move to London side Chelsea.

The same window also saw several names head out on loan moves to top-level clubs, with the likes of James McAtee and Issa Kabore joining Sheffield United and Luton Town in the Premier League respectively, whilst Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed to Southampton.