-Credit:Instagram/@stephmfuni08
Pep Guardiola doesn’t give out appearances for Manchester City on sentiment. You have to earn it.
So it was significant in the summer, even in a pre-season friendly, that Guardiola gave the nod to 16-year-old Stephen Mfuni in the closing stages of City’s win over Chelsea in the 100,000-seater Ohio Stadium, Columbus.
Guardiola referred to Mfuni by name after that game as he listed the positives from the tour, and he will have been as impressed as the academy coaches at City have been over the last 18 months. Even as Guardiola green-lights moves for two expensive young centre-backs, players like Mfuni won’t go unnoticed at the Etihad.
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Having been promoted to the under-23 squad as a 16-year-old this season, Mfuni is playing two age groups above his own. Scouts are watching his progress as word gets out over his performances, with League One clubs thought to be taking a look among others.
Wigan-born Mfuni, who turns 17 next month, continued his fine form with a goal in the FA Youth Cup win over Millwall on Thursday night. It follows his goal in May’s final in the same competition as City beat Leeds, and he also netted in the Premier League Cup final defeat to Manchester United.
City are not expecting many academy exits this month, and Mfuni feels like a player better suited to developing in the Elite Development Squad and dropping back down to the under-18s for the Youth Cup. He is getting regular games and developing nicely right where he is – even if a step up doesn’t feel too far away.
Mfuni scored at the Etihad in last season’s FA Youth Cup final.
Nothing phases Mfuni, but goals are not his main attribute. City’s website describes him as a ball-playing defender who ‘oozes class and personality’ on and off the pitch. He is a likeable character and is driven to improve whether in under-18 training or working with Guardiola.
“Working with Pep? He opened my mind, he sees things I didn’t see before,” Mfuni tells the Manchester Evening News after another Youth Cup goal. “Even driving forward, I wasn’t doing it much last season. But now I’m doing it and getting goals.
“[I’m always thinking about] the amount of goals you score to win the game, I’m trying to push the team forward from the back to win the game and win another Youth Cup.”
Mfuni says he tries to be a hybrid of Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk for his defensive qualities, and City colleague Josko Gvardiol for his attacking attributes. The youngster shared a fortnight training with Gvardiol (and Erling Haaland) in the USA and has also trained with the first team at times back in Manchester.
“I model myself on Josko, a bit of Van Dijk defensively, but mostly Josko,” Mfuni explains. “He can play left-back, centre-back. And a bit of John Stones because he’s good on the ball as well.
“Yeah it was good first-hand experience [to train alongside Gvardiol]. To see what it’s like to play with him and against him, to put that into my game and get rewarded for it.”
That reward came in that substitute appearance in Columbus. He recalls: “I was buzzing, I didn’t expect to come on, it was the last five minutes. I was happy to take the opportunity and I was excited.
“I was a bit scared with the amount of fans, but as soon as I got on the pitch and got on the ball, I was used to it.
“The tour was a huge confidence boost. I knew what I was doing when I came back [to the academy]. Relax. No fear.”
Fearless, indeed.
Under-18 head coach Oliver Reiss barely works with Mfuni these days but couldn’t hide his delight at working with such a talented player even for just a few days around the Youth Cup.
Mfuni, right, scored on Thursday in the FA Youth Cup.
“He’s not just a nice guy, he’s an incredible player, so it’s nice to work with him,” said Reiss. “He’s very focussed in training, he’s listening, always concentrating. Tries to adapt to the differences between the EDS and under-18s. I’m always very happy to work with players like him.”
Reiss calls him incredible, while the man he replaced – new EDS coach Ben Wilkinson – used the word ‘exceptional’ last season.
With coaches raving about him, Guardiola watching from afar and other clubs keeping tabs, Mfuni’s future looks bright wherever he ends up. He certainly has the mentality to go with the talent.
But for now, he only has one thing on his mind.
“The aim is obviously to win the Youth Cup,” he says. “And hopefully to make my first team debut, even playing more [for the academy] and get more opportunities. And to win the Youth League and PL2 as well.
“Just win everything!”