Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany is 'worried' that one of the Citizens' academy starlets could replicate Morgan Rogers in leaving the club and starring elsewhere at Premier League level.
As many as four academy players were named in Pep Guardiola's starting lineup for last weekend's thumping 8-0 home victory over fourth-tier outfit Salford City in the FA Cup third round.
James McAtee, Nico O'Reilly and Divin Mubama all got their names on the scoresheet, the former netting a superb second-half hat-trick while the latter two celebrated scoring their first senior goals inside the first half.
Centre-back Jahmai Simpson-Pusey also started and helped Man City keep a clean sheet as well as extend their winning run in all competitions to three matches.
While both McAtee and debutant Mubama have stolen the headlines following their impressive displays, O'Reilly has received plenty of plaudits from McInerney after a "excellent" man-of-the-match performance in an unfamiliar left-back role.
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Could O'Reilly become a "special midfielder" under Guardiola?
"I thought he was excellent to be honest," McInerney told Sports Mole. "He was probably my Man of the Match actually. I know McAtee got the hat-trick, [Jeremy] Doku scored a couple of goals, but I thought Nico O'Reilly was absolutely fantastic in a very unfamiliar role."
He added: "A of people probably won't be in the know of his journey as a footballer, but Nico O'Reilly is not a left-back, he's not even a defensive midfielder, he started out as an attacking midfielder, sometimes as a false nine.
"I saw him quite a bit for the Under-18s when he was making his debut at 15 years old and he came on essentially as a forward, often playing just off the striker or as a false nine given his height and his natural calmness in front of goal.
"I think Guardiola has very smartly and very astutely noticed his physical capabilities...I think he could be a very good attacker, but I think Guardiola thinks he could be a genuinely special midfielder in terms of his complete physicality."
Guardiola heaped praise on O'Reilly after the win over Salford, but he also appeared to encourage the 19-year-old to prove why he should play more regularly as a midfielder as opposed to filling in at left-back.
"O'Reilly can play in the middle, outside, both sides. Nico played for the first time in his life at left-back," Guardiola told reporters. "He has the conditions to play holding midfielder, but maybe he doesn't believe he can play this. He's another talent Man City trust a lot."
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Will O'Reilly consider Rogers-esque Man City exit?
McInerney believes that Man City should keep O'Reilly in Guardiola's first-team squad, but he fears that the youngster may follow a similar path to Aston Villa star Rogers, who left the Etihad to further his career.
Rogers was once on the books at Man City between 2019 and 2023, but he did not make a single senior appearance for the club and was loaned out three times before securing a permanent move to Championship outfit Middlesbrough.
Aston Villa saw glimpses of Rogers's potential during his time at the Riverside Stadium and since they signed the attacker for a fee rising to around £15m in February 2024, he has rapidly developed into an important player for Unai Emery's side, and has also become an England international.
"[O'Reilly is] absolutely massive and technically he's solid. I think there's a really, really interesting footballer there who I think City should keep around the team," said McInerney.
"(However), I've got a real worry that Nico O'Reilly could end up doing a Morgan Rogers-type route where he moves to a Championship side and within a year some Premier League side [signs him]...before you know it, he's at an Aston Villa-type club, scoring goals and playing great and he's in the England squad in three years' time. That's what my worry is because I think he's really talented and I think Guardiola sees that."
O'Reilly has made five senior appearances for Man City so far this season, but the 6ft 2in teenager is yet to make his Premier League debut under Guardiola.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Oliver Thomas
