Tag Archives: Nico O’Reilly

Jeremy Monga signs for Manchester City on five-year deal

Manchester City have announced a new signing. Here’s the press release: Manchester City is delighted to announce the signing of Jeremy Monga.

The highly rated 17-year-old winger joins the Club after emerging as one of the brightest young talents in English football, having already gained significant first team experience despite his age.

The England youth international, who joins from Leicester City, has signed a five-year deal that will keep him at the Etihad Stadium until the summer of 2031.

Born in Coventry, Monga joined Leicester City’s Academy at Under-9 level and progressed rapidly through the ranks. His outstanding performances at youth level saw him become the youngest scorer in Premier League 2 history at the time of his goal against Aston Villa in November 2024.

He went on to earn opportunities with Leicester’s Development Squad before breaking into the first team while still only 15 years old. Monga made history in April 2025 when he became Leicester’s second-youngest appearance maker and the second-youngest Premier League debutant in history after appearing against Newcastle United.

Monga arrives at the Club having already made 37 senior appearances for Leicester City, including seven in the Premier League.

On signing for City, Monga said: “When I became aware that Manchester City were interested, I knew instantly this was the right choice for me.

“For any young footballer, to become part of this amazing club is a dream come true. This has been the best club in England over the past 10 years. And it has also handed opportunities to players from the Academy like Phil Foden and Nico O’Reilly which shows that the pathway is there.

“It is a privilege to be here, and I’m delighted to have joined.”

Director of Football Hugo Viana added: “Jeremy is an exciting player who has already made huge strides in his young career.

“We were already very aware of him as a Club and we have seen his ability first-hand from his time at Leicester. At 17-years-old we feel he is only going to continue to improve and that this is the correct next step in his career.

“We look forward to supporting him on every step in his journey.”

Celebrate Every Success As If It’s Your First

Congratulations to Manchester City on winning the League Cup last night (22 March 2026). It was, once again, great to be there and clashes between the top two are always special. Years ago the former Manchester City trophy winning assistant manager (and later manager) Malcolm Allison was in a reflective mood when he told me: ‘Celebrate every success as if it’s your first, because it could be your last.’ It’s always stuck with me because so often we see people make assumptions about trophy success and then it’s taken away. Allison definitely experienced that, so I guess what I’m saying is… Celebrate every trophy; every moment; every player etc.

Yesterday’s success was thoroughly deserved. I was nervous in that first half when it looked like Arsenal had control for key stages, but then the second half demonstrated quite clearly how City as a team can deliver. Having our 21st birthday boy Nico O’Reilly score two goals added to the occasion and allowed a few headlines to be created. Listening to his BBC R5L interview on the way back from Wembley suggested that Nico would certainly be celebrating that success last night.

So much has already been written about the final so I don’t need to add much here. I absolutely loved the win and enjoyed the wider experience of Wembley. It’s changed a lot since my first visit (1986 Full Member’s Cup – 40th anniversary today!) and even since the 2011 FA Cup semi & final. We didn’t have a Greggs or shopping centre at our end back then!

In the 1900s when City first started making trips to Cup Finals and the 1920s when they first went to Wembley newspapers would often carry stories of how the train companies and Wembley organisers would change the food on offer depending on where the clubs were from. The 1904 final at Crystal Palace between City and Bolton brought stories published on the number of pies ordered being significantly higher than some other years because of the volume of northern fans. Southern fans, it reported, preferred sandwiches. I’d love to see if we could find similar details today – was Greggs busier last year because Newcastle were there for example?

Anyway…. If you support City enjoy the success. It was absolutely deserved and a great occasion again.

Record Etihad Score: City 10 Exeter City 1

It’s been an enjoyable day at the Etihad today (10 January 2026). Manchester City established a new record score at the Etihad Stadium and an incredible nine different players scored City’s goals (2 goals judged to be own goals it seems). The FA Cup game ended 10-1 which is not quite City’s highest score in the FA Cup but it is a record home score for the Etihad.

For many of us it brought back memories of another 10-1 – back in 1987 when we beat Huddersfield Town 10-1 in the League. That day City had three hat trick heroes – Tony Adcock, Paul Stewart and David White (I bumped into David pre-match today. It must have been a good omen) – whereas today had so many scorers.

The scorers were:

Manchester City

  • M. Alleyne (12′)
  • Rodri (24′)
  • J. Doyle-Hayes (42′ og)
  • J. Fitzwater (45’+2 og)
  • R. Lewis (49′, 90’+1)
  • A. Semenyo (54′)
  • T. Reijnders (71′)
  • N. O’Reilly (79′)
  • R. McAidoo (86′)

Exeter City

  • G. Birch (90′)

Interestingly the goal scoring pattern was similar to 1987 – 4-0 at half time, City take a 9-0 lead, opposition make it 9-1 and then City score a tenth.

Remember When City Scored Ten!