Manchester City are set to beat Premier League opposition to the signing of young Coventry City defender Marlow Barrett from Coventry City.
The Premier League champions are renowned for having one of the elite academy systems in the world, regularly picking off the best talents from clubs like Coventry as they go along, and then turning them into potential future stars.
Some of the most notable names to have graduated from their youth system include 2023/24 Premier League Player of the Season winner Phil Foden, and England and Chelsea star Cole Palmer.
Just last summer, City sold 19-year-old academy product Carlos Borges, who hadn’t yet made one senior appearance in his career, to Ajax for £17.3 million, as per the BBC.
The Sky Blues now look set to be their next point of attention, as the four-time consecutive top flight title winners target one of their talented teens.
Man City set to raid Coventry City for teenager Marlow Barrett
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed that the Citizens are currently working on a deal to sign Marlow Barrett. The defender has represented England at the under-15 level.
Romano believes that Pep Guardiola’s side are verging on completing the deal which will see Barrett join the Man City academy.
He added that there were other top flight teams that were believed to be in for the Coventry youngster, but the Citizens are set to win that race.
Coventry City’s other transfer activity
Mark Robins has already made a couple of moves in the earlier stages of this summer transfer window. Jack Rudoni has moved to the CBS Arena from relegated Huddersfield Town for a reported fee of £6 million, as per Alan Nixon.
| Jack Rudoni’s 23/24 Championship stats | |
|---|---|
| Apps | 35 |
| Goals | 5 |
| xG | 8.4 |
| Assists | 3 |
| Big chances created | 4 |
| Key passes per game | 1 |
| Stats taken from Sofascore | |
They may be losing Barrett to the English champions, but they have made a couple of academy moves of their own over recent days. Greg Sandiford and Kai Yearn have both joined the Sky Blues’ development side following their joint exit from Cambridge United.
This is all on top of the business that they conducted in January to get Ephron Mason-Clark to join Coventry from Peterborough United, in a deal worth £4.25 million. He was technically signed by the club in the winter window, but was immediately loaned back to the League One side as part of the deal.
Coventry have been linked with a move for Swedish goalkeeper Oliver Dovin too. He has confirmed that there is interest in him, but played down reports that said he was in the country recently.
Coventry should take Man City interest as a sign of respect
It will, of course, be frustrating for those who work in the Sky Blues academy to see such a brilliant young prospect who they helped to develop leave and get not much in return for him. Unfortunately, that’s just how these things work at the academy level.
Coventry may end up with some form of sell-on clause for him, but those details remain to be seen.
What they should be happy about is that they are producing talents that, arguably, the best academy in the country want to take from them.
It may be quite a bittersweet feeling for them. On the one hand, they would have wanted to keep hold of Barrett and benefit from his talents. But, for him personally, he may now have a better chance of making it as a professional, depending on how you look at it.
When Man City are lurching and trying to pinch your best prospects, it’s a nod to the work that the academy team is doing in producing such desirable players.
