Manchester City are underway with their search to find the next head of academy recruitment after Southampton poached Joe Shields this summer.
Shields worked at City for nine years and was responsible for finding young talent from the south of England including Jadon Sancho and Luke Mbete. He worked his way up to become the club's head of academy recruitment by 2018 and was in position for almost four years before leaving this summer to take charge of all recruitment at Premier League club Southampton.
The Blues are finding it increasingly common for academy staff to be poached but recognise that the role will need replacing and the search is already on to find somebody to take over from Shields. There are a number of staff currently working at the academy who could step up but equally external applicants have been welcomed.
