I didn't make it at City but now I'm worth £83m

FORMER RIGHT-BACK REECE WABARA SHOWED FLAIR AT ETIHAD ACADEMY BUT EVEN MORE AS A BUSINESSMAN IN FASHION

- JOE BRAY, JAKE STOKES

HE'S not the only young talent who hasn't lived up to expectations.

Numerous players emerge from top-tier academies, some even make their debut, but then fail to reach the required standard and end up playing in the lower leagues.

Some manage to return to the top and, even if they don't, Manchester City take just as much pride in producing academy players who enjoy lengthy careers in the Football League as they do those who permanently join their own first team.

If you were to categorise the career trajectories of all City academy players based on the level they achieved or their future careers, one notable exception would stand out.

Reece Wabara. The 32-year-old multi-millionaire who traded football for fashion and never looked back.

After joining City at the age of 14, Wabara made his Blues debut on the last day of the 2010/11 season.

He was loaned to Ipswich and Oldham, where he netted the winning goal for Latics in a memorable FA Cup upset against a formidable Liverpool side in 2013 under the stewardship of City legend Paul Dickov.

He subsequently had loan stints at Blackpool and Doncaster before City let him go in 2014.

Wabara experienced a transition from Dickov's Doncaster to stints at Barnsley and Wigan. While he was moving through League One and the Championship, something off the field began to rise - profoundly impacting his life.

Reflecting on his football trajectory, Wabara admitted to CEOCAST in December 2022: "It's my fault," as quoted by The Manchester Evening News. "I was complacent, I didn't go hard enough.

"It was too easy up until 18, then everyone started to catch me up.

"I was the best player. You're a kid, you don't have that understanding. When it's easy and you don't know it's easy until retrospect, you don't go hard."