The 16-year-old 'exceptional' City squad member

THERE are 22 years between the oldest member of City's pre-season squad and the youngest.

- JOE BRAY

38-year-old Scott Carson drew laughs from Jack Grealish when he sat next to teenager Joel Ndala on the flight out to North Carolina, underlining his role in the squad as the father figure but also a senior player who will get along with everyone.

The youngest member of the squad, 16-year-old Stephen Mfuni, was not even born when Carson won the Champions League in 2005 with Liverpool as a reserve goalkeeper, nor when Carson lifted the FA Cup a year later or made his England debut in 2007.

Born in 2008, Mfuni is actually younger than Carson's eldest son, who is on the books of Wolves, and was only six months old when Sheikh Mansour completed his takeover of the club he now represents. In the absence of the majority of City's first-team players, these kinds of peculiarities can pop up.

And given Mfuni's rise over the last 12 months, don't bet against him catching Pep Guardiola's eye.

The centre-back enjoyed a landmark season last term, making more under18 and under-21 appearances than any other under-16 player in City's academy. That is even more than Phil Foden or Cole Palmer, although Foden was being fast-tracked to the first team by that point.

Described as 'outstanding' by last season's under-18 head coach Ben Wilkinson - who has now stepped up to take charge of the under-21s Mfuni made his U18 debut while still a 15-yearold.