You Are 17 and still at school. You have made up the numbers in a few training sessions but nobody really knows who you are. Why would they? Here stands a collection of globetrotters assembled by Manchester City. Besides, plenty of kids are asked up to help during Pep Guardiola’s tactical run throughs and are effectively mannequins.
But one of Guardiola’s coaches has been in his ear. The manager has never seen you play but trusts the word of Carlos Vicens, an assistant, that there is a youngster who should travel with them for pre-season in America.