At the crucial moment, Bobb still showed a terrifying calmness and coldness. He controlled the first step well, calmly and skillfully eliminated the opponent’s goalkeeper and put the ball into the empty goal. It’s not the first time Bobb has had such a good tackle.

The magical and daring winger was promoted to the first team by Pep Guardiola just as other academy hopefuls were forced to leave the club. Like the first team, Man City’s academy currently looks like the best team in the world. Man City’s young players were transferred for huge transfer fees despite having almost no experience playing in the first team.

The club has spent £156 million in just the past two summers on seven academy players, including Romeo Lavia, Carlos Borges, James Trafford and Cole Palmer. Palmer joined Chelsea for a staggering £42.5m in August despite only starting three Premier League games and he was the most experienced of the departing academy players.

But despite having very high standards for young players before breaking into the first team, Pep Guardiola has proven that he will always give youngsters a chance if they impress. He famously described Phil Foden as “the most talented player he had ever worked with” when the midfielder was just 19 years old, and four years later he was one of the most important players in his team. me.

Oscar Bobb and his “ice cream” treatment in front of Newcastle’s goal

Guardiola also promoted Rico Lewis to the first team last season, giving him huge responsibility in important matches, leading to the club handing the 18-year-old a lucrative new contract. And now there’s another young gem bleeding into the first team: Oscar Bobb.

The Norwegian was one of a handful of academy players to take part in Man City’s pre-season tour of Asia, and after a string of impressive performances in Japan and South Korea, he was given his Premier League debut. and Champions League this season.

Bobb was born in the Norwegian capital Oslo in July 2003, right after Man City broke up Maine Road and moved to their new home Etihad on the other side of Manchester. He started playing football for Lyn, and when he was just 10 years old, he attracted the attention of Porto. However, Porto’s efforts to acquire Bobb were blocked by FIFA due to the governing body’s regulations on the transfer of underage players.

Bobb’s case was referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which sided with FIFA. Bobb and his mother moved to Portugal, but they had no choice but to return to Oslo, and the youngster signed for Valerenga in 2017.

However, City soon came calling and that year Bobb and his family were invited to watch the team beat Tottenham 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Shortly after his 16th birthday, Bobb signed a contract with Man City as a student and enrolled in the team’s academy.

Oscar Bobb had a very good collaboration with big brother Kevin de Bruyne

Bobb helped Man City’s Under-18s win back-to-back titles and then stormed the Elite Youth Squad (EDS) in the 2021/22 campaign. In January 2022, at the age of 18, he was called up to the Man City first team for the first time for the FA Cup third round match against Swindon. 

He didn’t play in the 4-1 win, but a week later he used that experience to motivate him in the derby against MU U23s, scoring in a 3-1 win. “It was crazy, probably one of the best weeks of my life,” Bobb said.