It’s vital for the club
The only way we will get rid of this money bags, ruining English football tag is to produce home grown talent for the first team and England. Only then will the narrative change.
That’s why Phil Foden’s development is so important. As well as being a potential word class player he will be PR gold for the club.
I actually don't think Foden is the key player here. Phil will go on to start for us for a long time, but having 1 token home grown player, no matter how good won't cure the image you're talking about.
The key is to do what United and Barca did, which is produce good enough squad players.
No academy in the world can be good enough to produce a lot of starters for a team at the top of modern football regularly, but the supporting cast is where you can fit them in. Second choice fullbacks, a 4th choice CB, one of your forward options, the back up keeper - if you can get those spots filled with homegrown players, then you're not only getting rid of any bad image, but it's a humongous cash cow.
If, for example, Taylor Harwood Bellis plays 50 games for City as 4th choice CB by the time he turns 21 then he'll be a £30m player. If Angelino plays semi-regularly for us over the next 2 years and then leaves because he wants first team football, he could be a £25m+ player.
Then you solve 2 problems in one because you bring in a ton of money to offset spending on your best 18 or so players and you're also spreading around a bunch of academy players who are starting at midtable clubs acting as an advertisement for the academy.
