Two things have become apparent about Micah Hamilton in the past 24 hours.
First, the footballer: judging by his goalscoring performance in City’s 3-2 victory at Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday night, the 20-year-old is a tricky forward with an eye for goal.
Second, the backstory: in 2017, Pep Guardiola called over a ball boy during City’s home game against Crystal Palace and urged him to help his side speed things up by getting the ball back in play as soon as possible. The ball boy was a 13-year-old Hamilton.
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The story was tweeted (by me) soon after it emerged Hamilton was starting for City, and picked up by the high-profile journalist Fabrizio Romano after the youngster had opened the scoring for City. By full time, TNT Sports, the Champions League broadcaster in the UK, ran the footage of Guardiola’s exchange with the academy hopeful.
Against Crystal Palace in 2017, Guardiola was annoyed about City’s speed of play.
“If there was a foul, no-one went to take the ball and start to play. There was five, ten seconds before someone goes to take the ball and start to play. When this happens everything is slow.”
So… pic.twitter.com/BGrlJplVwe
— Sam Lee (@SamLee) December 13, 2023
Not that the message made much difference, apparently.
“He just called me over and he was telling me something and I’m just thinking, ‘Yeah, just nod’,” Hamilton told the Secret Scout two years ago, as he began catching the eye. “From what I’ve seen in training sessions, he has the same persona in training as he gives off in interviews!”
Hamilton had been training with Guardiola’s squad around then, at the ages of 17 and 18, but an ankle injury picked up in September 2021 meant his path to a senior appearance has not been straightforward.
From ballboy to #UCL goalscorer! 🩵
Then… pic.twitter.com/8pKjwbEzZY
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 13, 2023
“I came back but I’ll be real, I wasn’t fully fit and I wasn’t feeling myself,” he told Secret Scout in November 2021 after making his return. “I played the game and think that I might have done (my ankle) again so I’m going to get a scan and see how it is. I’m hoping it’s not going to be too long.”
It turned out he had done it again; that was the first of two aborted comebacks and after eventually having surgery he missed 18 months.
Before that, he had been flying: midway through the 2020-21, his under-18 year, City academy coaches told him to use his obvious talents to affect games more, to get more goals and assists. From February onwards, he got nine goals and six assists from the final 11 games, directly contributing in 10 of those games.
5 – Micah Hamilton is the fifth-youngest Englishman to score on his UEFA Champions League debut (20y 30d), and youngest to do so since Marcus Rashford in September 2017 (19y 316). Impression. pic.twitter.com/Ye9GJcpacm
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 13, 2023
This, it is hoped, is his first full season since then and, as well as being named under-23 captain, he has now made a name for himself under Guardiola.
Given City’s injury problems this season and the occasional need to play Kyle Walker in an advanced position on the right, it is tempting to think Hamilton’s accomplished performance — he also won a penalty — could lead to further senior opportunities, not least because on many occasions this season, the Catalan has only named eight substitutes from a possible nine.
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Hamilton could conceivably find himself included on the bench much more often, although his lack of football in the past couple of years means regular action with the under-23s has been much more valuable than being part of the first-team setup. Last season, Rico Lewis could afford to be around the senior team but not play every week because he had played so much academy football in years gone by.
There could be a rare opportunity for Hamilton to do both this weekend, though. City play Crystal Palace on Saturday before the under-23s face Norwich City on Sunday, meaning he could, in theory, be part of both squads. That used to be much more common at City but at the academy level, the home team gets to choose when to play the game, and many of City’s opponents choose to play the same day as Guardiola’s side in the hope of facing a weaker team.
Cole Palmer once came on as a late substitute for the first team on a Saturday afternoon before heading to the Academy Stadium and scoring a hat-trick for the under-23s that same evening, but opposition teams have started objecting to the late Saturday slot, for exactly that reason.
“It still hasn’t sunk in” 🩵 pic.twitter.com/W70ZusjQtH
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 13, 2023
City’s academy is thriving at the moment: by full time in Belgrade, five of the 11 players on the pitch came through the ranks at the club; as well as Hamilton and Bobb, there was Mahamadou Susoho — who was born in Spain but moved to Bradford and signed for City at 12 — and more established graduates (and treble-winners) Lewis and Phil Foden.
Max Alleyne, a centre-back signed from Southampton, was on the bench, alongside goalkeeper True Grant, who trained with City’s ‘Junior Academy’, left for Derby County and then re-joined when his dad, Lee Grant, signed for Manchester United in 2018.
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Hamilton, Foden and Lewis, as well as Palmer, who left for Chelsea in the summer, all joined through the Junior Academy, which can boast new senior representatives year after year.
“I had the decision between City and United and my family left it to me, although I knew my dad wanted me to sign for City,” Hamilton says. “United, at that age, you did what you wanted, whereas City was drilled. I chose to sign for City, and I’m still there now and I’ve been here for 10 years plus.”
During that time, he has earned England youth call-ups, which is not easy considering his 2003 age group also contains Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala. Although Hamilton scored his goal from the right wing on Wednesday, he had always been more comfortable on the left-hand side in his early days, and has also played as a No 10.
Hamilton, in that November 2021 interview, spoke of his determination to break through at the Etihad Stadium, but was not afraid to consider other possibilities — the type that have been available to Palmer and others such as James Trafford and Romeo Lavia, as top-level clubs vie to snap up City talent.
“I want to play for the first team here, but if that doesn’t (work out), there’s obviously opportunity elsewhere, abroad or in England, especially because I play for a club like Man City.
“In the next two years, I just want to break through.”
He has been making up for lost time.
(Top photo: David Damnjanovic/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Sam Lee is the Manchester City correspondent for The Athletic. The 2020-21 campaign will be his sixth following the club, having previously held other positions with Goal and the BBC, and freelancing in South America. Follow Sam on Twitter @SamLee
