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Brian Marwood wants the 80-acre Etihad Campus to produce homegrown players like the Spanish club’s famed academy They are planning more calculated risks in east Manchester today. Where once new Labour proposed to meet the area’s regeneration needs with a Super Casino, Manchester City envisage the solution to sustained success in the Premier League and Champions League without recourse to the riches of Abu Dhabi in every transfer window. “This will be the most important investment this club has ever made,” City’s chief football operations officer, Brian Marwood, said. Marwood was describing City’s proposed youth development and first-team training centre, part of the stunning Etihad Campus facility for which, after three years’ research and six weeks of public consultation, the planning application was submitted on Monday. The scale and attention to detail are astounding. Eighty acres of brown field land opposite the Etihad Stadium have been earmarked for a project that will cost at least £100m and, City hope, deliver a production line of homegrown talent able to compete in the Champions League and a convincing riposte to accusations of paying lip-service to Uefa’s financial fair play rules. “It is part of our 10-year strategy for long-term, sustainable success,” said Marwood, sensitive to the criticism that City’s 10-year, £400m sponsorship deal with Etihad Airways attracted from Arsène Wenger and Liverpool, among others, and which Uefa has pledged to scrutinise. “Everyone has seen we have accelerated the recruitment process in terms of where the first team is now, which is three years into the owner’s tenure of this football club. We are fully aware of the commitment that we face but, equally, we talk about sustainability and that [paying large transfer fees] can’t be sustained, so we have to develop within. That is something that is paramount to the future of the club. Financial fair play gets talked about every week now, and everyone is looking to Manchester City to see whether we are going to conform to that. This is an element that will help us achieve the criteria people are looking at.” City’s project team visited 30 elite sports development centres in nine countries across four continents in the course of their research. The end result is a proposed home for 400 young players to train alongside the senior squad, 15 full-size pitches, on-site sleeping accommodation for 40 youngsters plus 32 members of the first team, a rehab centre and a 7,000-capacity stadium for youth-team games. The stadium is situated between the training hub and the Etihad Stadium so as to motivate academy players towards fulfilling their potential. The first-team training pitches will have different grass that match the varying types used across the Premier League. Whatever type City are playing on that weekend will dictate where the squad trains during the week. The grand tour included the Australian Institute of Sport, the LA Lakers, the Nike laboratories in Oregon, the New York Giants and Barcelona. “They are the benchmark for developing young talent,” said Marwood of the Spanish champions. “You talk about the DNA, the philosophy and the culture, and it is there at every level in terms of how they play. “Our under-19s played against them last week. You could close your eyes and see a young Iniesta or a young Xavi and that is something on which we need to work very hard here. What the coaching team has tried to do is develop a philosophy but also a consistency in terms of the way we play at every level right up to the first team. In the last Champions League final Barcelona had eight players that were home-grown, which is an incredible statistic. They have their youth stadium adjacent to the Camp Nou, and they also have their training complex close by as well. It gives players that aspiration and inspiration to go from the academy all the way through. “We have a proud history of bringing through players from our academy and that is something we want to enhance. What we have tried to do at every level is make it better, and develop it in a different way. We are trying to bring through young players that can play in the Champions League. That is what we are aiming for.” A decision on City’s planning application is expected in late December, with construction expected to take three to four years. City have purchased most of the 80-acre site but negotiations remain ongoing over the relocation of several businesses, while the club have allocated 5.5 acres for community facilities, including a sixth-form college, and will help fund a new swimming pool. Patrick Vieira, football development executive at City, insists the benefits will be widespread. “I don’t think England produces enough talent, certainly in relation to the number of people who love the game and play football,” he said. “I don’t know why, maybe it is the facilities, but it is disappointing England has not produced more. This football club wants to give people the opportunity to play for the first team and for the national team.” Marwood believes the facilities will ensure the next Ryan Giggs has no reason to leave City’s academy for Manchester United. He also claimed another loss to City was Garry Cook, the former chief executive who was forced to resign over an email he sent to Marwood ridiculing Nedum Onuoha’s mother’s cancer, and had overseen the Etihad Campus proposals. “It’s not a good time to lose your chief executive but we are all moving on,” he said. “As the chairman said last week Garry has done a tremendous amount for this football club in the three years he was chief executive and he will always be welcome at this club. I’m personally saddened because I think everyone is aware of the relationship I had with him but we have to move on. He was a big player in this project.” Manchester City Premier League Premier League 2011-12 Andy Hunter guardian.co.uk