“In England, talent is sought and promoted from a young age. You can see what kind of players are developing there at the moment,” explains Nmecha, who quickly played himself to the fore in the city youth – but not on the big field. “I can still remember my first eleven-a-side game when I was 12 or 13 years old – and I was always offside because I didn’t know the rules,” he says with a loud laugh.
Professional debut under Guardiola
That changed quickly, however, and Nmecha went through all the English national youth teams from U16 to U21. In 2017 he even became European U19 champion with the “Three Lions”. A little later he made his debut in the League Cup for the Man City first team. The coach: Pep Guardiola.
“He was someone from whom I learned a lot,” Nmecha explains and adds, impressed: “After just two weeks of Pep’s training, I noticed that I’ve gotten a lot better. You can see where that’s going with Phil Foden . We played together when we were young and the steps he’s taken are impressive.”
But unlike Foden, Nmecha did not immediately prevail with the Citizens. The logical consequence: a loan to Preston North End and, at the age of 19, a hard impact in the harsh reality of the second English division. “In the beginning it was a total culture shock for me compared to City.”
Nmecha can still remember his first game clearly: “I only got long balls against Swansea and there was a 30-year-old behind me who was physically on a completely different level and really hit me. I didn’t expect something like that .”
Difficult time in the second division
Because there were no goals, the Scottish coach Alex Neil ordered Nmecha from the front to the wings. The then-teenager then repeatedly begged the gnarly Scotsman to move back to the middle (“I was the player who was in the office with him the most.”) but Neil held his ground. “I’m really desperate at times in Preston,” admits the German international today.
