Oliver Ntcham

[Twingatz]

I agree, this is what really pisses me off about the way our academy is perceived. I have had this debate with a rag I know on a number of occasions as he claims the academy is a white elephant.
The fact is if we were a mid table premier league team with a tight budget then these kids would be getting their chance, the trouble is the quality of player in front of them is a much higher standard. If we get one first team player coming through from the academy every 5 years we will have done well. In the meantime the money we have generated by selling on young prospects all goes to make the club self financing.

I'm sorry but even for a team with the Standards of City that's actually a bad standard to go by. You should at least try to attain 1 first team player every year. If you aren't trying to push for that then what's the point of even having an academy. It just becomes a pointless revenue generator pitching false dreams to young players and then you won't have any young players that would want to go there.

 

[ADegenerate]

I'm sorry but even for a team with the Standards of City that's actually a bad standard to go by. You should at least try to attain 1 first team player every year. If you aren't trying to push for that then what's the point of even having an academy. It just becomes a pointless revenue generator pitching false dreams to young players and then you won't have any young players that would want to go there.

Then why did la masias top defensive prospect just sign? It's a platform to get noticed with amazing facilities. If they are good enough they'll get the chance. Problem is none have yet.

 

[decmancity]

If the young players dont want to come to our academy then they are not good enough for us, they should want to challenge themselves against some of the best in the world in their age group, whilst enjoying world class facilities and coaches.

If they dont make it with us they are more likely to be picked up by someone else than they are if they are released by Sunderland or someone.

Whilst here they will also get the chance to have a loan to one of the top divisions in europe and all the while knowing you are being monitored and checked for future chances in the first team.

 

[greenandwhite1]

£7m apparently, we're getting good at this selling malarkey. That said I think he'll do well at Celtic and they'll get double or triple that for him.

Don't mean to burst your bubble but there is NO chance, zero, zilch that we have just spend £7million on him. I know it's peanuts for you guys but that would be a record spend for Celtic.. I'd imagine the 4million mentioned all week up here in Scotland includes addons already.

Am I not right in saying Genoa had an option to buy at 3 million euros? So obviously it's going to be round about that (give or take).

Genuinely hadn't heard of him until this week, sounds promising. Any idea why Genoa didn't take up the option to buy? New manager? What's the talk of attitude problems?

 

[I'm With Stupid]

Ntcham was a player I had high hopes for and he was fantastic in some of the games I watched live. He didn't really seem to progress too much from his days playing first team football as a 16 year old, but it is always hard to judge players who are highly developed physically, as they are often competing against less physically commanding opponents. If he develops in the way that I imagined he would, Celtic will have a player on their hands.

Are the players not separated according to physical attributes instead of age like they are at Southampton?

 

[I'm With Stupid]

I'm sorry but even for a team with the Standards of City that's actually a bad standard to go by. You should at least try to attain 1 first team player every year. If you aren't trying to push for that then what's the point of even having an academy. It just becomes a pointless revenue generator pitching false dreams to young players and then you won't have any young players that would want to go there.

It depends on your definition of a first team player. Are we talking someone who is able to come in and do a job when needed, someone who becomes a rotation player, or someone who develops into a regular starter? Because even having a youth team that can do the former can save us a fortune in terms of squad depth and meeting homegrown requirements. But I'd be surprised if a future regular starter comes through more often than every few years maximum.

How many of the top six actually have a regular starter that came through their own youth setup? Off the top of my head, Kane, Bellerin, Rashford, arguably Rose, and technically Pogba. And the list of academy graduates from the same clubs that are still starting every week at the very highest level is equally small. This suggests that it's exceptionally difficult for academies at top clubs in England to produce players actually capable of starting for them regularly. Obviously I hope that we can buck the trend, but the lack of opportunities for first team football in such a competitive league and the lack of control inherent in the loan system make it far more difficult than in countries with B teams and clubs that are almost guaranteed to win every year.

 

[Hungarian blue]

Don't mean to burst your bubble but there is NO chance, zero, zilch that we have just spend £7million on him. I know it's peanuts for you guys but that would be a record spend for Celtic.. I'd imagine the 4million mentioned all week up here in Scotland includes addons already.

Am I not right in saying Genoa had an option to buy at 3 million euros? So obviously it's going to be round about that (give or take).

Genuinely hadn't heard of him until this week, sounds promising. Any idea why Genoa didn't take up the option to buy? New manager? What's the talk of attitude problems?

I agree with you, 7m seems weird by all accounts, that would be sensible if you'd pay something like that for Roberts, but not for Ntcham.

And as for your question, he actually got a bit of a chance after their managerial change, but in general it's Italy and Genoa, they have huge squads year after years with loads of loanees, I don't think it was their priority to play and improve him when they can loan similar players or someone with more experience for similar fees.

As for his attitude, only thing I can remember was his driving without a licence while he was in Italy, so maybe this affected his gametime too, or maybe there was even something more than that.

 

[worsleyweb]

Have to confess i have never heard of him.

 

[r.soleofsalford]

Have to confess i have never heard of him.

 

[worsleyweb]

Good job i have thick skin.