Is it best for a young player to move to a team where they will get a chance to play? Or should they go to a huge club and hope to be developed there? According to reports, Jose Cifuentes is set to bypass the stepping stone option and will head straight to an elite club.
The Daily Record has reported that Celtic target Jose Cifuentes is likely to join Pep Guardiola at Man City instead of joining the Scottish Champions.
The young Ecuadorian was a key member of the U20 side that reached the Semi Final of the U20’s World Cup this summer and is regarded as a star of the future in his homeland.
Interestingly The Sun also commented that due to work permit rules, there’s a chance he may sign for Man City and then be loaned to Glasgow. This happened with Australian winger Daniel Arzani last year when he signed for City and then joined Celtic on loan.
Clearly he has no chance of being anywhere near the first team at the Etihad anytime soon, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him loaned out a few times before being sold on for a profit.
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As a powerful defensive midfielder he could’ve added to the Celtic midfield immediately and possibly become the eventual successor to Scott Brown in the next few years.
Time will tell if he is making the right move for his long term career prospects, but it looks likely he will be a Man City player fairly soon.