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When Jason Wilcox ran Manchester City's academy, he made it his mission to put up pictures of every first team debut in the training ground so players could walk past it every day as daily motivation . Thomas Krucken has welcomed another five faces to the wall since he took over in 2023, but the last marker is now always the same.

There is no picture, just two words on a coloured background : Who's next?

It is typical of Krucken's style and management to marry recognition with a challenge, a message that runs right up to Pep Guardiola that there is always improvement to be made. What's more, it appears to be working.

This season, four academy players have trained with the first team every day and the Under-21s usually work on the next pitch so that Guardiola can choose

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