‘A Star in the Making’ – Man City’s Donal McDermott

The Manchester City academy is famed for producing fantastic talent, and one of the bright stars for the future is Donal McDermott. He was part of the side that won the F.A. Youth Cup in 2008 and the young Irishman grew up wanting to do nothing more than play football, aspiring to be like his boyhood hero, Damien Duff, who has played at the very highest level for club and country, and be a top entertainer like Ronaldinho and Ronaldo.

Despite the big names arriving at Eastlands, the 20-year-old believes that training with the new major signings will help himself and other youngsters improve greatly.

“City are a club who have always looked to their academy for players and if the players they are producing are good enough, they will get a chance and for any young player at City, training with the likes of Robinho and Carlos Tevez is only a good thing as they can learn so much from these players, which will help them throughout their careers.”

McDermott spent three successful months on loan at Chesterfield, where he scored five goals in fifteen appearances, league and cup, for the Spireites, helping them to a lofty position in Coca-Cola League Two, and believe that they have what it takes to push on from here.

“The team did really well when I was there and since I have left, so I feel they may well push for promotion. But my intention wasn’t to sign there permanently after my spell, although I really enjoyed it and will always remember my time there.”

He is a player who has the potential to be a Premier League star with his ability on the ball and his raw pace to frighten any defence, which is why City were so keen to keep him on their books by offering him a two-year contract in the summer, and the speedy forward relished his opportunity to play first-team football.

“My aim was to get as many games under my belt at Chesterfield while I was there and it has really helped me as a player and a person which will hold me in good stead for when I return to City and hopefully help me to push on to the first team.”

The City first-team boasts the likes of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Micah Richards, Nedum Onuoha, Stephen Ireland and Vladimir Weiss who have all burst onto the scene and made a huge impact and club and international level and McDermott believes it is down to the fantastic work done by Jim Cassell and Paul Power behind the scenes that has helped the acadamy players reach their potential.

“As a young player at fifteen, choosing where I wanted to start my career was easy. Man City had a huge reputation for producing the best young players, but also the players who have left Man City, who didn’t quite make it at City, most of them have gone on to have good careers in league football, and with the likes of Jim, Alex Gibson, Paul and everyone else who works there behind the scenes it has given every player like me who came through the academy the best chance to play at the highest level.”

I think it is great that City are giving young player the opportunity they need to play first team football because it is vital for the club’s future. The aim was not to be the next Chelsea and spend huge money all of the time, but to bring in these players to build the foundations for something special.

The youth players that played in the friendly in Abu Dhabi were up against experienced men and they applied themselves very well. It is a good advert for the future of the club, especially with City producing the likes of McDermott, Javan Vidal and Alex Nimley.

Written by Chris Wildgoose

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