Divin Mubama Set to Step Up at Manchester City After Impressive Season with U21s

Manchester City are expecting young striker Divin Mubama to move up to the senior team next season after a fantastic year with the Under-21 side. The 20-year-old, who joined City from West Ham last summer, is now seen as one of the club’s most exciting young talents.

Mubama chose to leave West Ham as a free agent, even though they were eager for him to stay. City ended up paying about £2 million in compensation to the Hammers to secure his signing. He had previously won the FA Youth Cup at West Ham and saw Manchester City as the next big step in his career.

His start at City wasn’t perfect — an injury delayed his progress early on. But since returning, he’s been in incredible form, scoring 15 goals in 14 appearances for City’s academy. That includes five goals in his last three games during the Premier League 2 playoffs, helping fire the U21s into the PL2 final.

Mubama caught the attention of first-team manager Pep Guardiola earlier this year, when he scored on his debut in the FA Cup. Guardiola described his performance as “unbelievable.” The young striker also made a short appearance in the Premier League when City faced Ipswich in January.

On Friday, Mubama scored twice in the U21 semi-final against Manchester United, proving once again that he’s ready for a bigger stage. After the match, U21s coach Ben Wilkinson confirmed that Mubama won’t be playing at the youth level next season.

“We’ve got players in our team we’d expect not to see next year, and he’s probably one of them,” Wilkinson said.
“He’s ready for the next step.”

Manchester City haven’t yet decided whether Mubama will stay and fight for a place in the first team, or go out on loan to gain more experience. The club will meet with the striker and his representatives at the end of the season to decide what’s best for his development.

City have seen similar situations before with young players. Liam Delap, for example, struggled on loan in the Championship at first, but eventually impressed enough to earn a £15m move to Ipswich Town. Now he looks ready for Premier League football.

Wilkinson believes patience is key with young strikers like Mubama.

“It’s very tough for young number nines to go out on loan and succeed in the Championship or League One,” he said.
“You’re up against two big defenders, you might not get much service, and you’re expected to make a big impact.”

The club has learned from past experiences with players like Cole Palmer, Carlos Borges, James McAtee, and Morgan Rogers, who all took different paths — some stayed and made the first team, while others left and earned City money in transfers.

Wilkinson added that it’s not always a straight path to the top.

“Sometimes, the first move doesn’t go as well as you’d hope, but that’s part of the learning. They come from academy football where they have a lot of the ball. That won’t always happen in the real world.”

“Our job is to prepare them for that — and with Divin, we’re confident he’s ready for the next big challenge.”