It is not easy to break through from an English academy, no matter how talented you are. Most boys don't make it.
So when somebody does, pride is involved. It is this that caused Tosin Adarabioyo's mobile phone to buzz one morning this week.
'I had a text from one of the staff members at Manchester City just this morning saying that I was doing really well, and that was really nice to receive,' he tells Sportsmail. 'I know they are all watching.'
The 23-year-old, who prefers to go by his first name as is on the back of his shirt, spent 18 years on City's books but had to leave to make his name in the Premier League.