Manchester City have given more minutes to U21 players in Europe than most other English clubs this season.
Rico Lewis, 17, marked his full debut for City by driving home the Blues' equaliser in their 3-1 Champions League group stage win over Sevilla on Wednesday. The teenager showed a level of maturity with a performance that saw Pep Guardiola heap praise on his talented youngster.
Lewis' goal made him the club’s youngest-ever Champions League goalscorer, and the youngest player to ever score on their first start in the competition. Alongside Lewis, both Cole Palmer and Josh Wilson-Esbrand have also featured for City in Europe.
Although the goal against Sevilla saw Lewis steal the headlines, Palmer played the most minutes for City of any U21 player during their group stage campaign. He racked up 137 minutes across four appearances, with Lewis featuring twice for a total of 118 minutes.
Wilson-Esbrand also made two appearances for City, earning a total game time of 44 minutes, as the club's impressive youth set-up was on full display this season. Should any youngster at the club be in any doubt over what is needed to break through into Guardiola's first team, they need look no further than the Spaniard's post-match comments after the win against Sevilla.
He said: "We see him [Lewis] every day. We don’t give presents here. You're not going to play just because you're a Manchester City fan or you're from the academy - you have to earn it.
"The academy here with Jason Wilcox is working amazingly, since Jadon Sancho, Brahim Diaz, Phil Foden, James McAtee, Cole Palmer, there are many talented players and the guys who want to stay and fight for this position will have a chance.
"If they are not patient and listen to agents more than what the future is here they can leave but you saw the reception from the crowd, how they are pleased about having people from the academy playing for us. They can help us because they have quality."
City have invested heavily in their youth set-up in recent years in the hope they could continue to produce talented youngsters who can help the first team or flourish elsewhere. It seems they're on track to reach their goal.