In his interview with City Studios, Kruecken reviewed what has been a hugely successful 2025 for the Academy for a plethora of reasons.
From our Under-18s and Elite Development Squad winning silverware, to seeing players develop individually at impressive rates, there is plenty to be proud of from the past 12 months.
Another key highlight for Kruecken and those within the Academy has been the outstanding progression of O’Reilly’s involvement in Pep Guardiola’s side over the past 12 to 18 months.
The Academy graduate, who has been at City since Under-9s, made his senior debut in our 2024 FA Community Shield win over Manchester United.
Since then, he’s featured 44 more times for Guardiola, playing predominantly at left-back, making the position his own, and putting on eye-catching performances on a consistent basis in the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Carabao Cup.
And his relentless hard work and commitment saw the 20-year-old pen a new contract at his boyhood club earlier this year.
It’s a journey to senior football Kruecken feels is the perfect example for all of our Academy players.
“Nico O’Reilly is a role model for every single player in this Academy,” began Kruecken.
“He started his journey with the Academy aged Under-9. So [he is] a great role model for those kids who start their journey now in the class of 2025.
“And specifically the last 18 months, everyone is so proud of his development. He was a midfielder in the Academy, and when you see his improvement in terms of how he defends, it’s incredible to see.
“And it’s an indicator for his self motivation, his resilience and his self belief because it wasn’t easy after his injury one-and-a-half years ago to come back, and he showed it in so many games, he worked so hard.
“I think the support of his Mum and his family was so strong, and then the belief of the football club and from Pep Guardiola, always giving him the opportunities.
“He delivered and he deserved it. It was great to see for our EDS players in the Bernabeu, to see him performing against Real Madrid in front of 90,000 [fans].
“Only a couple of months ago, he was with us playing in the UEFA Youth League at [Slavan] Bratislava. And he did also a fantastic job for us because when he enters the pitch, he always wants to be the best version of himself.
“And I think at the end, the hard work, he deserved it. And as I said, everybody is so proud.”
Another aspect of the past 12 months Kruecken is proud to acknowledge is not just O’Reilly’s impact within the first-team, but also the number of deserved senior debuts in 2025.
Divin Mubama was our first debutant, scoring on his first senior start, in our 8-0 FA Cup win over Salford.
Following his return to City in the summer, James Trafford earned his first senior City appearance at the start of 2025/26, debuting in our 4-0 Premier League triumph at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Divine Mukasa, Jaden and Reigan Heskey were the next trio to feature for Guardiola, all playing in City’s 2-0 Carabao Cup win over Huddersfield Town.
To complete the 2025 cohort, Charlie Gray featured as a substitute in our Carabao Cup victory over Brentford, which Kruecken’s interview happened just before.
“Yeah what a proud moment for all of us to see that we have five [at the time of recording] more graduates to get their debut for the first-team,” Kruecken said.
“I remember it was late September when, and this was one of the highlights of the season, that we have 10 graduates in the first-team squad against Huddersfield in the Carabao Cup.
“And it’s a clear indicator for me of the great organisation and collaboration we have with the first-team in the transition phase, making sure these players get the opportunity. We train everyday next to the first team with our EDS.
“We have daily touch points around the coaching level. In the past it was Carlos Vicens, now it is Pep Lijnders and Kolo Toure who are very close to our coaching staff, and Jan [Moritz Lichte] who is our Head of Coaching.
“I have bi-weekly meetings with Hugo Viana, talking about strategic improvements of the Academy and day-to-day touch points with him. He’s watching every single game in the EDS, every game in the U18s.
“I think this is a massive indicator that we are one and we are here so the Academy has a big task to develop players for the first team, for the five big European leagues, for the Championship, for the League One. And yeah it’s exciting moving forward.”
