Manchester City academy chief Jim Cassell admits their success owes a lot to current Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Cassell told City's website: "I think it's well documented now that Shaun was the first to break through.

"We'd just started the Academy, so the structure that we had in place wasn't very strong, but the one thing that caught our attention straight away was Shaun's enthusiasm and love of the game.

"He did all the right things and he liked to play positively. His first movements were always to create, be positive and run at people. We liked what we saw, both Barry Poynton and I, and the rest is history.

"Shaun just got better and better. I remember speaking to the Manager of the day, Joe Royle and saying, 'He's not ready yet, but you're going to have a kid soon that will play in our first team.' I just wish he was still with us."

Academy Recruitment Officer, Poynton, also said: "The best thing that happened to Shaun was getting released by Nottingham Forest because it instilled a work ethic in him.

"This boy almost got into the England team at Under 16 level and almost got into the National School; so for a boy of that calibre not getting a scholarship is incredible."