Meet the Man City midfielder modelling himself on Paul Pogba and following in his dad's footsteps

Manchester City teenager Floyd Samba is enjoying an excellent start to the season after scoring in the UEFA Youth League last week.

When Floyd Samba scrolls through YouTube, he can't help but stumble across videos of Paul Pogba, a midfielder he idolises and who bears at least a passing resemblance to him stylistically.

Samba might only have turned 16 earlier this year, but he already stands above 6ft, which is unusually tall for a central midfielder. Like Pogba, he often plays as a No. 8 but has the physical profile to contribute in pretty much any central position.

Pogba, 32, hasn't played a competitive game for more than two years, and it's been at least five years since he was one of the best, if not the best, central midfielders in Europe. So Samba is relying on childhood memories and an online video archive for his memories of the France international.

That could change soon, with Pogba on the comeback trail with Monaco, and he could feature against Manchester City in the Champions League next week.

Samba will be lining up against the Ligue 1 club's Under-19s in the UEFA Youth League that day, having produced a dazzling performance on his tournament debut against Napoli last week. One of the youngest players on the pitch was also one of the most imposing.

"My idol is Pogba. Pogba's my favourite player of all time," Samba said after that 2-0 win. "Just the way he plays, I try to be as composed as him as well. His quality is top, technique and everything. Tall as well, like me.

"Especially with passing ability, technique, everything is just top, so I look up to him. I always see him online. I follow him, see what he does and I'm happy that he's back as well, so I can look at more highlights of him."

Pogba signed for Monaco in the summer after an 18-month doping ban ended, but he has to build up his fitness before returning to competitive action. If he is at the tail end of his career, Samba's is just beginning.

He has been outstanding for City this season, scoring four goals in four games and netting for England Under-17s. He believes this season has gone "much better" than last term, suggesting he "struggled" at times in 2024/25.

But that is an assessment that Elite Development Squad coach Ben Wilkinson disagrees with after Samba juggled his football with his school work last year, and Wilkinson believes that Samba's move into full-time training this year is now beginning to bear fruit.

"I think he's probably a bit hard on himself. Last year he was still at school so you're in a full-time school program, you've got your GCSEs and you're playing in our under-18s. Trying to balance the two is a very difficult act," said Wilkinson.

"He's also growing a lot, connecting with his body, picking up injuries, that sort of thing. I think he's got massive potential, he’s got the physicality and technical ability and when you have those two things, you've got a great chance of being a top player. You can see that from the evidence [against Napoli], the action for the goal was of a really high level, so I think for him now he's just got to build on that.

"He's in the building full-time, we have opportunity then to control everything in his program and working with that physicality, trying to improve it but trying to keep him fit and trying to understand, to go through the possibilities that he's going to have to deal with in terms of that kind of age profile he's at where you do pick things up, and then test him when he needs.

"(Napoli) was probably his biggest test since he's been in the building, I said to him in [the dressing room], there's a moment of magic where he wins us the game but I don't want him to be coming off after 70 minutes with cramp. He's a young player with a lot of potential and hopefully he's on the right track."

Samba is in the City academy with brother Tyrone, the sons of former Premier League centre-back Christopher. The 41-year-old had a fruitful five-year spell with Blackburn Rovers and also played for Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa.

He couldn't make Floyd's Youth League debut last week, but was tuning into a live stream of the fixture online and is a regular source of advice to both his sons.

"He’s always giving me guidance because he's been through it all, he’s experienced, he knows everything, so he'll let me know on anything - what's right, what's wrong. It helps me a lot," said Samba.

"Maybe he's a bit harder to please. He always expects the best, so I try to deliver the best and he'll be honest, he'll tell me if it was good or bad."