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New Manchester City signing Jeremy Monga says he's thrilled to join the "best club in England" over the last ten years and hopes to emulate the paths of Phil Foden and Nico O'Reilly by forcing his way into the senior squad.
Monga, who turned 17 on Friday, has put pen to paper on a five-year deal at the Etihad Stadium, arriving from Leicester City — a club now competing in League One just five years after lifting the FA Cup — in a transfer believed to be worth around £12.5 million ($16.7 million).
"The moment I found out Manchester City were interested, I immediately knew this was the right decision for me," Monga told the club's official channels, having also been heavily linked with a switch to Premier League title holders Arsenal.
"This has been the best club in England over the last 10 years. And it has also given chances to Academy players like Phil Foden and Nico O'Reilly, which proves the pathway to the first team is very much open.
"It's an honour to be here and I couldn't be happier to have signed."
Monga on Track for Big Things
Monga is primarily a left winger but has the flexibility to operate on the right side as well. He made his professional debut for Leicester back in April 2025, becoming the second-youngest player ever to appear in the Premier League in doing so.
He featured on a semi-regular basis for Leicester during their 2025-26 Championship season and etched his name in the record books as the division's youngest-ever scorer when he found the net against Preston North End at just 16 years and 37 days of age.
Since then, speculation about a move to a top Premier League club has been rife — with interest in the teenager only intensifying amid Leicester's struggles and their eventual drop out of the second division.
"Jeremy is a thrilling talent who has already taken enormous strides at such a young age," said City's Director of Football Hugo Viana. "We had been monitoring him closely as a club and witnessed his quality directly during his time at Leicester. At just 17, we believe he has enormous room to grow and that this represents the ideal next step in his development.
"We're looking forward to being by his side every step of the way."
City Good at Developing Young Players
Monga isn't expected to slot straight into City's starting lineup, but the track records of Foden, O'Reilly and others demonstrate that the Cityzens — who claimed a domestic cup double last season to bring Pep Guardiola's 10-year reign to a triumphant close — are committed to developing homegrown talent alongside their high-profile acquisitions.
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O'Reilly is now a key figure in England's World Cup campaign, having begun the 2025–26 season as little more than a squad rotation option. Foden, meanwhile, has been central to City's dominance over the past decade, making a massive contribution from his early 20s onwards. Rico Lewis is another academy product who has been handed considerable first-team minutes in recent years.
Monga has represented England up to U-19 level and could see action in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this term. Anything beyond that may be considered a bonus in his debut season, though the fierce competition for his signature — with Brentford and Arsenal both credited with interest — underlines just how highly regarded he is, and suggests he could enter first-team contention should City feel he is ready to kick on from the strong foundations he built at Leicester.