Carlos Borges could make his senior debut for Manchester City in Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Sevilla after Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News reported that the 18-year-old joined the first-team in training on matchday.
Pep Guardiola plans to ring the changes from Saturday’s 1-0 win over Leicester City, handing starts to youngsters and out-of-favour players, so Borges’ promotion to the senior squad looks deliberate.
Sevilla v Man City: What will the outcome be?
Sevilla to win
Draw
Man City to win
Borges joined Man City from Sporting in 2014 and has scored 24 goals with 23 assists from 34 games for the U18s, five goals with five assists from six games for the U19s and nine goals with five assists from 22 games for the U21s, so he’s outgrown youth football.
This season, the 18-year-old has 12 goals and nine assists from 16 games across the board. Borges is clearly ready for the step up, so Wednesday’s meeting with Sevilla could be a big opportunity for him to send Guardiola a message.
Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez are struggling to make a telling impact this season, scoring just three goals with one assist between them, so there could be a chance for Borges and other promising forwards from the academy to stake a claim.
It remains to be seen whether Guardiola will start the Portuguese youth international, but he’s sure to feature in some capacity after being called up.
In other news, Rico Lewis could start at right-back against Sevilla
The Vital Network is unique from other football content providers as all the sites are run by the fans, for the fans. We are looking for a writer to join our Manchester City site. If you can write well-constructed, thought-provoking opinion pieces alongside reporting on current events and breaking news then I want to hear from you. Email paddy@snack-media.com.