3 months ago
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A year ago, Oscar Bobb was about to embark on a pre-season that would propel him from a promising Manchester City youngster to a player inked in to start the season in Pep Guardiola's first team.
Bobb was the star of the show on the club's pre-season tour of the US, dazzling in the friendlies against Celtic, AC Milan, Barcelona and Chelsea and earning himself a starting spot against Manchester United in the Community Shield.
He played on the right wing that day, with Jeremy Doku on the left, and it was expected the Norwegian would again occupy that position at Stamford Bridge on the opening day of the season, only for fate to cruelly intervene.
Bobb fractured his leg in training that week, setting him back at least a year. He managed just 14 minutes of football in the Premier League, returning to training in February before suffering another minor injury.
In the Club World Cup, he played about an hour of football against Wydad AC and Al Ain, scoring against the latter, but he wasn't seen against Juventus and Al Hilal, which shows how his status has dropped over the last 12 months.
The 22-year-old hasn't just missed a year of football; he has gone from a position where he was about to break into the City team to returning to the fringes. In many ways, he is back to where he was this time last year, needing to impress Guardiola and his staff all over again.
In the past year, Bobb has seen Savinho grow in stature to the point he was the most-used outfield player in the Club World Cup, playing 299 minutes across the three games. The competition on the right is extended with the possibility of Phil Foden and Rayan Cherki playing there.
Bernardo Silva occupied the most advanced midfield position this summer, and while Foden and Cherki can fill that position, there is a good chance they will also switch to the right and rotate with Savinho.
That could leave the unfortunate Bobb wondering where his game time is going to come from. At 22 and after a lengthy injury lay-off, he is at a point in his career where he needs to be playing, but he might find that hard to come by at the Etihad this season.
There is no doubt about his talent. In a recent City Studios documentary on his recovery from injury, Silva said: “I'm a big fan of Oscar Bobb. In pre-season [2024], he arrived and you could see he was ready to be one of the main players. I think Oscar would've made a big difference; the impact in pre-season, the energy he was giving was very special."
The praise didn't stop there. Kevin De Bruyne said he could "see he had something different", and Matheus Nunes said his talent was "off the charts".
But elite-level football moves quickly, and it has shifted under Bobb's feet. Like a game of Snakes and Ladders, a year after his breakout moment, he has fallen down a snake and has to do it all over again.
The question is whether he can get the exposure he needs to do that at City. With Guardiola looking to trim his squad before the start of pre-season, there could be mileage in allowing Bobb a loan move to get the momentum going again.
His teammates know the talent is there, as does Guardiola, but circumstances have conspired against the unlucky winger over the previous 11 months.
Man City have launched their new away shirt for the 2025/26 season, featuring an all-black design inspired by the club's earliest-known kit.
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