Man City Debut New 17-Year-Old Goal Hero on Erling Haaland’s Night Off

On a night when Manchester City debuted a new £34.2 million ($45.7 million) winger who put up a goal and assist, it was still a 17-year-old from the academy who took the headlines.

Allan’s performance against Norwich City in the Carabao Cup was nothing to be sniffed at. The Brazilian set up the opening goal of the third-round tie and scored the third of the 5–0 win himself. This was a confident start following his August switch from Palmeiras.

And yet, the player who really caught the eye was Floyd Samba, almost completely unknown outside youth soccer circles before kickoff at the Etihad Stadium.

Son of former Premier League center back Christopher Samba, the teenager squeezed onto the bench when Enzo Maresca’s team beat Coventry City earlier this month. He was unused, though, just as he had been in preseason when traveling with the first team to Hong Kong and South Korea.

But if ever there was an opportunity for Maresca to let Samba show what he can do, it was a home, midweek cup tie against an opponent sat 14th in the EFL Championship standings. The Cheshire-born talent made sure he grabbed it with both hands, scoring twice.

The first on 29 minutes, which sparked City into life after a slow start, was a well-taken header in a crowded six-yard box. The second—his team’s fourth of the game—curled into the far bottom corner from just inside the 18-yard line after Norwich played their way into trouble. Samba’s beaming father, best known from his time at Blackburn Rovers, was in the stands to celebrate.

He began this season playing Premier League 2 soccer alongside brother, Tyrone, aged 18, but has now jumped ahead of his elder sibling. Samba netted twice in two appearances in the U-21 competition last month. He started as the No. 9 against Norwich, taking Erling Haaland’s place on a night off for the superstar Norwegian, but isn’t even a striker.

Samba: ’My Idol Is Pogba’

Paul Pogba, World Cup trophy, 2018 — Paul Pogba climbed to the top of the mountain and is inspiring the next generation. | Michael Regan/FIFA/Getty Images

Samba’s natural position is in midfield and his Premier League 2 goals came from the center of the pitch as a No. 8 instead. He told the Manchester Evening News after a UEFA Youth League match last season that Paul Pogba is his “favorite player of all time.”

After hours and hours absorbing highlight reels of the former Manchester United star, there are notable technical comparisons. But the physical similarity is there as well.

“Just the way he plays, I try to be as composed as him as well. His quality is top, technique and everything,” Samba said at the time. “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.”

In reality, it was easier for Maresca to give Samba a first-team chance as a striker, away from the physical cut and thrust of midfield, where the manager preferred the poise of Ayyoub Bouaddi in his first domestic start and the experience of Mateo Kovačić.

City’s midfield is stacked after a summer rebuild saw not just Bouaddi recruited, but Elliot Anderson and Enzo Fernández as well, accounting for two of the most expensive transfers in Premier League history. Samba’s first-team pathway is clearer as a No. 9, where City have no automatic backup for Haaland, and he’s now proven that he can do it.

You’re rarely, if ever, fully locked into a position as a young outfield player at Manchester City, as Nico O’Reilly can attest to.

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