Max Alleyne could be Man City's next big thing after shock Pep Guardiola call - 'Special quality'

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Manchester City's debutant started the week at Watford in the Championship and will now make his Blues debut against Brighton in the Premier League.

Max Alleyne started the New Year playing for Watford against Birmingham. On Sunday he was due to feature for the Hornets at Hull in the Championship before the game was called off due to the weather. By Monday he was heading back to Manchester City having been recalled by the Blues amid a defensive injury crisis. On Tuesday he trained with Pep Guardiola's squad and on Wednesday he was thrust into the Premier League starting XI against Brighton. Talk about whirlwind weeks.

Alleyne has been a highly rated prospect in the City academy for some time and was the Under-21 player of the year last season and was on the bench when City won the Club World Cup. He's already flirted with the first team, earning a call-up in the Champions League in 2023/24 and almost making his debut at Red Star Belgrade that December night in Serbia. But a late comeback from the hosts meant Alleyne missed out on a first senior appearance, even if Guardiola praised him afterwards.

"At the end I wanted to put Max on as a central defender because he has a special quality with the ball," Guardiola said that night. "But the game was not quite under control, but it's a big compliment for all the academy for many years."

A year on, in November 2024, Guardiola fumed at England for overusing Alleyne at under-20 level despite City claiming he was not fit enough to play.

"They pushed Max’s limits and he came back injured," Guardiola said. "If one player goes to the national team not in a perfect condition and trains with the Under 21s in the morning and in the afternoon with the Under 20s, and then plays two games when not fully fit, it's normal that he is injured. We are going to lose him for three weeks to one month again."

Alleyne has been on the City bench before and joined Watford in the summer on loan. He's been a regular for the Hornets and Guardiola said this week that the 20-year-old was ready to help the Blues. Most expected that help to be against Exeter City in the FA Cup on Saturday rather than in a crucial top flight clash against the Seagulls.

Speaking ahead of the game against Brighton, Guardiola said: "We have a lot of absences in central defenders. Nico O'Reilly in the last week has a lot of problems with fatigue and niggles. That's why we bring him [Alleyne] back. We know him from one or two seasons. He's ready."

Alleyne is match-ready and has an elite sport mindset fashioned from a young age as the son of former England international cricketer and Gloucestershire all-rounder Mark Alleyne.

"It's that sport mentality, my mum is a nutritionist as well so from the get-go I had the right advice and right food going in me," he told the Manchester Evening News last season. "It made it easier to transition into professional sport.

"He was never pushy with what I did and wanted to do. I really enjoyed football growing up. He never made me choose between cricket and football. I never really played cricket, I was from quite a small village so there was never really the opportunity. I just played football. I loved it so kept playing."