No way has he got that.
To clarify the situation about us poaching him from City.
Players can go to all academies up to the age of 9 and then they have to commit, which Emilio did. He was playing for City, us, United and Liverpool between the ages of 5 & 9 although he got rid of the latter 2 quite quick and concentrated more so on us and City.
He was all set to sign for City but Martin Waldron managed to convince him to sign for us using some of the creative methods that the club used back then which he carried the can for.
He was the one Martin wanted out of all the kids in the north west and it was another signing he got spot on. I’ve seen posts playing down how good he is but he’ll be in the top 2 or 3 players at City as soon as he joins and he’d be the best u17 at United or Liverpool if he went to either of them now.
He’s no way Rooney, that’s just unrealistic but Emilio’s a very good, classy player. I don’t think he was ever going to stay here though. City have done to us what we did to them 8 years ago.
Thankfully we kept ISS as he was holding back signing also.
A very fair update. He has a big reputation, but seeing him compared to Rooney just seemed too much for me.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but he wasnt absolutely nailed in some England age group squads recently?
I'm disappointed to lose him. On the face of it, youd hope the club could have given him what he wants, but you also have to factor in how likely he is to keep developing if he is only staying for the money? It can go both ways. Years ago Cadamateri got a big deal and then flat lined. It's a tough balancing act.
Objectively, I will maintain it's a bad deal, and the club can and should make that argument. Players need first team football, and we should be offering a lot more than what City can. As a club we have probably missed a trick over recent years in terms of progressing players though, which does finally seem to be changing.
It's not me being wise after the event, and there are limits watching the games, but Samuel Smith impressed me more than Lawrence for the under 18s this season. I'm more pleased we kept him,.but obviously would have been good to keep both.
Theres a lot of leakage from clubs academies these days. I know Liverpool lost their best prospect last season to United. Spurs and Chelsea have lost lots of players to going abroad. The priority for the club had to be to close those leeks. We faced pressure on Gordon, Dobbim etc but fortunately kept them. You hope more pathways to the 1st team will help, but who knows.
