Jeremy Monga transfer plan after picking Man City over Arsenal

Jeremy Monga transfer plan after picking Man City over Arsenal - 'No-brainer'

Manchester City winger Jeremy Monga speaks to the Manchester Evening News about why he picked the Blues over Arsenal and what comes next.

It was only in February 2025 as he walked on the Old Trafford pitch that Jeremy Monga knew for sure he had something special. Scouting reports from clubs and England staff had said it for years, but you can really never know in academy football if you are going to make it all the way through to the first team until the moment comes.

Having made the bench for an FA Cup game against United shortly after his 15th birthday, a few months later Monga made his debut for Leicester to become the second youngest Premier League player in competition history at the time. All that time sacrificed with his mates had been worth it, and the youngster's parents made sure he knew that making it was one thing but staying there was another.

With Manchester City and any other top club with a brain still watching on with interest, Monga followed through on his promise and made 17 appearances in the Championship for Leicester before securing a £10m move to the Etihad this summer. Despite an awful time for the Foxes in suffering consecutive relegations, Monga only has good things to say about the club that developed him and his fee will prove handy as they try to bounce back.

He knew it was time for a change though as they went down to League One, and was 'very close' to joining Arsenal this summer as the Premier League champions looked to capitalise on their gains. As they tried to haggle Leicester down in negotiations, City swooped almost as soon as Enzo Maresca had officially walked through the door at the Etihad.

There was little prior connection between the two given Monga was an Under-13 for the year Maresca was Foxes manager, but the youngster had City earmarked from previous summers. With no breakthrough from Arsenal, Monga jumped as soon as he heard City were back in for him.

"[Arsenal's interest] was very strong because it was very close to me going there. Very close. The main decision was probably the pathway and the club itself. They've been so successful that it was a no-brainer when City calls. I feel like to me personally I see myself at City more. I see myself in blue!

"[This summer] was more a time of reflection. After last season, thinking about what's next. Obviously once I heard City called in again it was really a no-brainer because it is such a successful club. It's every child's dream to win trophies and be at the top with the best."

The early impressions at City are positive as well, with the winger taking on all the instructions from Maresca on the pitch and advice from Antoine Semenyo off it. Monga sounds to have been guided well by his parents through his life, but he certainly lives up to Semenyo's offer as the £10m winger spends around 40 minutes doing four separate interviews with various media - answering the same or similar questions in all of them.

"I'm the type of person that doesn't really focus on the outside noise, I just focus on what I do on the pitch and stuff so I find it easy to cope because I don't overthink, I just do what I do on the pitch," he tells UK reporters ahead of his first appearance for the club in the friendly with K-League All Stars.

"One thing that I realised early is that everything can get stripped away just like that so I have to stay focused and humble because keeping my spot is the main priority. Sometimes it's annoying that I'm missing out on things but it's for the greater good. If you want to be a top player you have to live the top lifestyle and make sacrifices. My parents taught me that early because of the experiences we've gone through.

"It's only been a short time [at City] and not much has happened but Antoine Semenyo has been guiding me so far, telling me what's right from wrong and what to do. Things like me off the pitch, interacting with other people and creating a good image of yourself."

Monga has walked into the squad with credit because of the experience he already has. As well as seven Premier League appearances at the age of 15, he backed that up with 27 in the Championship as he regularly turned out for Leicester even as they struggled.

The teenager describes last season as a year where he took a lot of lessons in an unforgiving league where defenders 'gave me less time and respect' than they had in the Premier League. "They were more on me, wanting to be more physical with me and they didn't care about my age too much. It's a dog-eat-dog world in the Championship," he said.

City know how tough the league is because they still look to it as one of the priorities for their young players; Max Alleyne, Divine Mukasa and Stephen Mfuni were some from the academy who followed that path last year alone. For Monga to have that under his belt already and to have come through it marks him out as much as the fee paid for him does.

If he chose City over Arsenal for the pathway, what is that though? No assurances, it turns out. In the past the Blues liked to keep their brightest young stars close to the first team but there have been signs of that changing in recent years in order to give them more regular challenges.

Maresca has said that decisions on those paths will be taken at the end of the tour, although Monga is hopeful that he can show enough to stay with the squad and earn some minutes in League Cup games as the traditional start to first team life. There are no promises, but there is the confidence that comes from having had the pick of the best two teams in England.

"It was more of a thing where I go in with the group and if I impress and work hard then we'll give you the opportunities that you want and you need," he said. "That's pretty much it.

"To me, this is such a good opportunity to have because I'm so confident in myself that I can impress and work hard and do everything that I need to do to get myself in the squad. Once I get the opportunity I just need to show myself and once I do that everything will take care of itself."

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