Manchester City’s academy, the City Football Academy (CFA), has been open for 21 months and is beginning to impress.
Brian Marwood oversaw its creation, travelling the world to draw inspiration from top sport and music academies before finalising plans on the £150 million facility. The club wanted an academy that had its own identity and culture but one that was grounded in the same idea as La Masia in Barcelona, where every age group is encouraged to play a distinct brand of football in preparation for life in the first team.
It’s an attacking style that involves hard work and high pressing without the ball and quick passing and sharp movement with it.