This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Ex-Manchester City star Shaun Wright-Phillips has hailed Eyal Berkovich and Ali Benarbia as two players who helped him the most at the club.
What did he say?
When Wright-Phillips broke into the City first-team back in 2000, he was just 18 years old. The Englishman would become a vital player for the club for the next six years before he moved to Chelsea, scoring 48 times.
In that time, without the billions of pounds, he would have needed big names to look up to at City. Back then, this was Berkovich and Benarbia, he told readers on his ‘ask me anything’ on Reddit.com.
When asked who helped him develop the most, he said: “I think when I was coming through the academy to break into the first team, I think the two key players who helped me a lot were Eyal Berkovich and Ali Benarbia.
“They taught me how to play without the ball, which was obviously running in behind defenders and finding spaces.”
You always need an experienced head
Clearly whatever the two players told the then-young City star worked, as he would go onto play 262 times for the club and score 48 goals. Later on in his career, Wright-Phillips would move onto Chelsea, where he would win a Premier League title, whilst he would also play 36 times for England and score six goals.
These days we are seeing the likes of Phil Foden and Eric Garcia come through the system and be nurtured by the likes of David Silva and Sergio Aguero. These experienced heads are always vital for the development of a young star as Wright-Phillips proved.
Surely the City legend is hoping more players like him break through the academy into the senior squad, just like he did. No doubt the club have some huge prospects at their disposal like Foden, and the 19-year-old could end up becoming the next big name from City’s youth.