Why Slobodan Tedic could evolve into a future star at Man City

According to The Sun, Man City have agreed a deal to sign 19-year-old striker Slobodan Tedic from Serbian club FC Cukaricki, with the report suggesting that the Citizens are set to shell out a fee of £2.7 million to secure the teenager’s services. 

FC Cucarcki’s director of football Nenad Mirosavljevic has revealed that Man City had been keeping close tabs on the youngster’s development for a long time before the reigning Premier League champions eventually decided to go ahead with their interest in the starlet. (h/t Sun)

Born in Podgorica, Montenegro, Tedic started his career in the youth ranks of Serbian club Vojvodina before joining Cucaricki in 2017 and he has already shown glimpses of his obvious talent and vast potential in his homeland. 

Held in high regard by the youth coaches in his Serbia, the teenager made his senior professional debut in the Serbian SuperLiga in the 2017-18 campaign, largely featuring as a substitute in his first couple of seasons before gradually coming of age since the start of the ongoing campaign.

Tedic has already netted 4 goals in 9 appearances across all competitions thus far this term, with 3 of those goals coming in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League. Cukaricki lost out to Norwegian side Molde but the 19-year-old earned rave reviews for his goalscoring exploits, nevertheless. 

Having already represented Serbia at U-16, U-17, U-18 and U-19 levels, Tedic earned his U-21 debut in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Russia U-21s during the recent international break and he will be looking to follow it up with another appearance in the upcoming fixture against Latvia. 

To put things into perspective, Tedic is regarded as a player with the potential to go on and play at the highest level in Europe and Man City’s decision to snap up the youngster for a thrifty fee certainly looks justified. 

The towering 19-year-old centre-forward would initially link up with the U-23 development squad at the Etihad and, while he still needs plenty of polishing to make the grade at the club’s senior ranks, Man City have every reason to hope that the Serbian prodigy will go on and fulfil his promise in the future. 

That he has managed to break into senior professional football at one of the top clubs in Serbia is a clear indication of the fact that Tedic has already taken strides towards fulfilling his potential and Man City might have a gem on their hands in the years to come. 

While the reigning Premier League champions grabbed the headlines this summer with big-money deals for Joao Cancelo and Rodri, their youth recruitment drive is likely to have eluded the eyes of many.

Highly-rated duo Ryotaro Meshino and Pedro Porro have already moved out on loans after joining City from Gamba Osaka and Girona earlier in the summer, whilst other youth recruits like Liam Delap, Morgan Rogers and Samuel Edozie have all taken well to their new surroundings. 

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Man City have already begun to reap the rewards of having a clear pathway from the academy ranks to the first-team, as demonstrated by the rapid rise of Phil Foden. Hence, the fans have every reason to expect a lot more of the homegrown players to make their mark in the years to come.