There are no shortage of talented midfielders at Manchester City, and the academy have a good record of developing quality central players in recent years.
After players like Cole Palmer, James McAtee and Tommy Doyle have graduated from the academy, with Romeo Lavia and others leaving permanently this summer, there is room for another midfielder to make a name for themselves.
In a week where City might have benefitted from one extra midfield option thanks to injuries to Kalvin Phillips and Rodri, youngster Shea Charles was the top performer for a battling under-19 side who battled hard to avoid their first UEFA Youth League defeat of the season against FC Copenhagen.
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With both sides coming into this game with two wins from two - City flexing their muscles in a big win at Sevilla and then enjoying a dramatic injury-time comeback vs Borussia Dortmund - this was set up to be an exciting meeting of two in-form sides. Except it wasn't, with City's possession-based attacking cancelling out Copenhagen's big, physical defence and counter-attacking tactics.
Copenhagen were a threat on the break without creating many dangerous chances, and they were extremely well-organised at the back to restrict City's talented attackers like Oscar Bobb, Carlos Borges and Dire Mebude any space to operate. It said everything that City's standout player in the opening 45 minutes was defensive midfielder Shea Charles, who was calm on the ball and dictated the play.
It was Charles who tested the goalkeeper with a long-range effort, and he was at the start of a move that saw Borges swing in a lovely left-footed cross for striker Will Dickson to poke just wide on the stretch. If it had come from the right, it was a cross and sot that resembled the kind served up by Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland for the first team.
Charles was alert to stop a counter-attack with a perfectly-timed sliding tackle from behind (even if the referee disagreed and awarded a free kick), with Mebude testing the goalkeeper from a tight angle before half-time on a rare occasion when City were able to find space behind the compact visiting defence.
After the break, though, City were able to find that space far easier, even though the only notable change at the break was the introduction of left-back Tom Galvez. First the lively Kian Breckin fired wide after good work from Medube, then the winger held his run well and saw an effort blocked for a corner. Breckin was particularly impressive after picking up an early booking yet he remained committed to every challenge or 50/50 ball.
That improvement in attack opened space for Copenhagen, though, with Emil Rohd Schlichting's flicked effort a warning before winger Noah Sahsah carried the ball from the left wing into the right side of the area, cutting his shot back across goal and finding the bottom corner to open the scoring.
A lead suited the Danes, who could sit back comfortably and look for a second on the break. City had some half-chances in response, with Charles forcing goalkeeper Andreas Dithmer into a fine save when his curled effort looked destined for the top corner. This was undoubtedly the toughest test City had faced so far in the Youth League - a competition they have failed to pass the group stage in since 2018.
While they dominate the domestic youth competitions, the City academy are yet to crack it against their European counterparts, with former academy players and coaches pointing towards this competition as the next level to master. Even if this year's academy is younger and less experienced than recent years, the quality remains and there is no reason they cannot break their poor run in Europe this season.
They will need to be better than this showing, even if Copenhagen used their bigger physiques and organisation to their advantage. City might not face a better defensive side all season, and the visitors also seemed to manage the game far better than the Blues.
The partnership of Charles as the calming, holding midfielder alongside the energetic Breckin was a positive for City, as were some flashes of good play from the likes of Bobb, Mebude and Borges. They will need to show more of that next week in Denmark to try and keep their Youth League campaign back on track - only group winners qualify directly for the last-16, with the second-placed sides having an extra round to join them.
The Blues could have snatched an equaliser their efforts deserved, with Charles seeing an effort blocked and substitute Dan Ogwuru slicing a good late chance wide. And those efforts would be rewarded as Borges finally found space on the left, and crossed for Joel Ndala to smash in a leveller off the crossbar - his second injury-time goal in as many Youth League outings.
This wasn't vintage City, and they were restricted for large portions, so to continue battling for a second game running will be mightily encouraging to keep their qualification hopes alive.
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