Words by Sam Blitz | Image by Ben Scott

He turned 17 this summer - but he's already been part of a transfer saga between the two best clubs in England.

Jeremy Monga looked set to go to Arsenal. He was keen to join after holding talks with the Gunners.

But such is the rapid nature of the transfer market that Manchester City have snuck in at the 11th hour to sign him for £10m plus add-ons - a valuation Arsenal were unwilling to pay.

It's a steep fee for someone so young but Monga's potential is just as big. Ever since he made his Premier League debut last year at 15 years and 271 days old, clubs have been watching him.

He was so young on his Premier League debut that he was legally not allowed to have Leicester's front-of-shirt betting sponsor on his jersey.

Monga's young age puts him in good company. He is the third-youngest Premier League player ever behind Arsenal duo Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman. No wonder the Gunners were keen on him.

And even after a season with Leicester's first team in the Championship that resulted in relegation, the best teams in the land have seen more than enough to see the talent in Monga.

Jeremy Monga is Next Up.

Caution should be made when analysing a player so young, especially for someone who has played very few minutes. Out of his 30 Championship appearances last season, only eight were starts.

It is probably why Arsenal were cautious about the fee Leicester wanted for their young winger.

However, while the sample size on Monga is small, the underlying numbers hint that there is an exciting, raw talent in the works.

The attribute that stands out is his one-vs-one ability – his desire to get at defenders. It is the top attribute for the modern winger, and there were two standout moments for Monga in a Leicester shirt last season.

One was his goal against Preston right at the beginning of the Championship campaign in August. Surrounded by two defenders, Monga managed to pop the ball in between both of them before finding the near post.

The other moment came two weeks later, a superb assist to set up Ricardo Pereira's goal against Birmingham. Monga did a quick give-and-go to enter the box, cutting inside the Blues defender, and then had the vision to produce the perfect cross.

Monga averaged more dribble attempts per 90 minutes than any other player in the Championship last season. Seven of Monga's one-on-ones ended up leading to a goal, with only eight Championship players having a better record than that all season.

His dribbling ability is an attribute noticed by those who have tracked his career for a long time. When Monga was 11 years old and just starting out at Leicester's academy, he did one-on-one training sessions at the CP Football Academy, led by Callum Powell.

“His ability on the ball is technically very well-gifted,” Powell tells Sky Sports. “His ability to manipulate and go left and right and one-vs-one domination is very strong. 

“The way he manoeuvres and manipulates in tight areas obviously makes him a very strong and powerful and athletic wide man.

“When he stands someone up on a one-vs-one he's got the ability to go on the outside to cut in. He's got the raw pace, the power, the strength. And obviously one of the biggest things that you can recognise in him is his sharpness levels.

“You see that with Rio Ngumoha at Liverpool. You see when he stands someone up, the defenders, he's square on his feet and then straight away - boom, he's gone. 

“And Jeremy definitely has that raw explosive speed, which can obviously be really effective and efficient.”

Monga comes from a hotbed of talent in the Midlands area. The likes of Morgan Rogers, Jack Grealish, Jude Bellingham and Morgan Gibbs-White have emerged from that region in the last few years.

But those in the CP Academy saw something very special from Monga. “You could see straight away in terms of his sharpness, his ability on the ball, it was quite unique,” adds Powell.

“We get so many players. We're inundated with them, especially from the Midlands, that come through from all these academies.

“All of the time you think: ‘yeah, they're a good player, they're good.’ But it's rare where you look at them and say: ‘yeah, they're quite special.’”

It has not been all plain roses for Monga though, who has been involved in back-to-back relegations with Leicester in his first two full seasons of professional football.

Similar struggles apply in his game – quite a lot of the time, the one-on-one does not come off, or he has to go backwards after beating his man.

But the impressive nature about Monga is his ability to keep going, and focus on the next individual battle. That is also seen in the numbers – Monga ranked second in the Championship for ground duels attempted per 90 minutes.

“He impressed all the coaches that worked with him,” recalls Powell – who then paid tribute to his ability to go again and again in training sessions.

“He was one of those players where you'd fire a ball in for a session and most people would fatigue or maybe slow down with their intensity. He would always persevere and kick on through the gears.

“All the coaches say the same thing: his mentality was so good. He's so unfazed.

“You have to have a certain level of mental capacity to absorb the pressure and all that kind of stuff and still remain resilient to put in consistent performances.”

At Man City, Monga is reuniting with Enzo Maresca - who would have known all of these talents while Leicester manager.

Monga is Maresca's third signing at City since the Italian became manager. This seems like a good next step for the teenager - but how many more steps will he take?