Manchester City head coach Enzo Maresca has praised Ryan McAidoo after the teenager caught the eye in the club’s pre-season opener against Inter Milan.
McAidoo, 18, made a lively impact from the bench during Saturday’s 1-1 draw in Hong Kong, repeatedly troubling the Inter defence before City were beaten on penalties.
The academy graduate, who operates on the right wing, twice went close to finding a late winner and earned praise from Maresca after the match.
“We were speaking with the club and since day one I said he is the kind of winger I love,” Maresca said.
“He is very aggressive one-v-one, he always tries, makes the right decisions. But he is very young and he needs the right path.
“If you look at the last clubs I was part of, I always asked for those kinds of wingers.
“You have to follow the right process, but then you need players out wide who can beat defenders one-v-one.
“Antoine [Semenyo], Savinho and Ryan were very good. We need to add more solutions for them and they will be better.”
McAidoo leads impressive academy outing
McAidoo made his senior debut for City in last season’s FA Cup win over Exeter City before playing a key role in the club’s FA Youth Cup triumph.
He was one of seven academy graduates to feature against Inter, with several more included in City’s squad for their three-match Asia tour.
Maresca said no decisions have yet been made over whether the club’s young players will remain with the first team this season or head out on loan.
“At the moment, with most of the young players, the idea was to see them during pre-season and then decide,” he said.
“We started 10 days ago and Ryan is working well. We are going to take the right decision. I am always very open with young players.
“At Leicester, it was a record number of debuts from the academy and at Chelsea it was also a record number of debuts from the academy.”
