Chairman so proud of City 'triple Treble'

CITY'S bosses wanted to connect their first team and academy sides from 'day one, and this season has shown how effective the club have been in achieving that ambition

- JOE BRAY

Reflecting on another successful year at City, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has praised the club's academy for their latest successes which has seen both the under-18 and under-21 sides win their national divisions for the third year running. Add that to the three Premier League titles in a row for the first team, Al Mubarak hailed the 'triple Treble' and the work that has gone in behind the scenes to make that happen.

As well as the conveyor belt of trophies being collected by the academy, the chairman also had high praise for youngster Rico Lewis, who broke into the first team this season and earned praise from Pep Guardiola for transforming the fortunes of the Blules midway through the campaign.

With City's academy players in demand more than ever they raised around £50m last summer from academy sales and sell-on clauses the chairman believes that the club are fulfilling the promise made when the City Football Academy was built to create a clear pathway from academy to first team.

Khaldoon spoke at the official opening of the CFA in 2014, and one quote on the walls of the training ground comes from owner Sheikh Mansour from when he purchased City in 2008 - "We are building a structure for the future, not just a team of all-stars."