Jeremy Monga will travel with Manchester City on their pre-season tour of Asia this summer, giving Enzo Maresca a first proper look at the 17-year-old before deciding whether he stays or goes out on loan for the coming season.
The winger only signed for City earlier this week from Leicester City, putting pen to paper on a five-year deal running until 2031. The package is worth up to £12.5 million, with director of football Hugo Viana beating Arsenal to the signature of one of the most talked-about young talents in English football.
Monga has already shown the pace, dribbling and eye for goal that made him such a hot property. He made his Premier League debut for Leicester last season and, at 15 years, three months and 22 days, became the youngest Premier League 2 goalscorer in the competition's history.
According to Alex James of the Manchester Evening News, the teenager will be part of the squad heading to Asia, giving him sustained exposure to senior players and the first-team environment. It is understood that the tour will allow Maresca and Viana to assess Monga at close quarters before any final decision on his pathway is taken.
Maresca's inside track
The City manager's previous experience with Monga at Leicester — during the Italian's title-winning 2023-24 campaign — gave the club a decisive edge in the race for his signature. That personal familiarity may yet influence whether the 17-year-old is kept around the first-team squad or sent elsewhere for regular minutes.
City have a track record of sending talented teenagers out on loan rather than keeping them in a peripheral role, which would suggest a temporary move is the more likely outcome. But Monga's profile and Maresca's involvement in his recruitment could point toward a different conclusion.
The question carries added weight given City's search for a new winger. Viana and Maresca want a player capable of dribbling and creating chances with passes — attributes that fit squarely within what Monga has already demonstrated at youth and developmental level.
Phil Foden's rise through the City academy remains the club's most celebrated example of a young player developed within the first-team environment rather than via loan. Comparisons at this stage would be premature, but Monga himself referenced Foden's pathway when signing his contract, suggesting he is at least open to a similar model.
Whether the Asia tour gives Maresca enough evidence to keep Monga in his senior squad, or confirms that a loan move is the better developmental option, is a question the coming weeks will answer. But including him on the trip makes clear that City intend to give the teenager every opportunity to make that decision as difficult as possible.