If there was a precise moment when Kevin Kilbane knew his old friend was destined for the top, it came in 2016. Lee Carsley had been travelling from his home in the Midlands to stay at his former Everton and Republic of Ireland teammate’s house in Manchester after being named as Manchester City Under-18s coach a few months earlier.
“It was probably the best youth team I’ve ever seen,” Kilbane says. “I used to go and watch them on a Saturday morning and I could see the relationship he had with players like Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho and Brahim Díaz.
