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Eliaquim Mangala left sitting on the bench, while Jason Denayer is out on the pitch earning fulsome praise from his manager.

Anyone seeking a symbolic moment for next season at Manchester City will have looked long and hard at Sunday’s friendly international between France and Belgium.

City’s £40million signing Mangala could not break up the partnership of Raphael Varane and Laurent Koscielny, but 19-year-old Denayer stepped in for injured skipper Vincent Kompany and had a fine game in his first start for his country.

And when he walked off 85 minutes later, to resounding applause, Denayer had helped Belgium to a 4-1 lead over their more illustrious neighbours – although they fell apart slightly after his departure, to win 4-3!

City badly need one of their home-grown talents, or preferably two or three, to make the break into the first team next season.

It is not about shutting up the critics, who trot out the line about the Blues’ £200m academy facility not producing any first-teamers – as if that money buys you fairy dust rather than the basis for future excellence.

It is more about showing the young players working hard at that Beswick hothouse that they CAN make it, that City do make room for boys who work hard and show the mental strength and physical dexterity to challenge.

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Too many young players fritter away their careers at this point, either through self-doubt or over-confidence, and many more fail to make the most of loan spells.

Denayer has had a great season on loan at Celtic, and has talked of how part of the reasoning for heading to Scotland was to improve his game physically and aerially.

The Scottish Premier League does not have the quality of its English counterpart, but it does have the same hectic pace and raw-boned challenges.

Belgium boss Marc Wilmots – who spoke of the player’s 'world-class' potential last week – is now set to stand by Denayer for Friday's Euro 2016 qualifier against Wales in Cardiff, with Kompany suspended.

Wilmots has no doubts about his temperament, saying: “Jason is like Eden Hazard, always calm. I’ve never seen him nervous; he has a lot of confidence and there will be someone with experience standing next to him.

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“It is not too early for him. He has the qualities and if he does something wrong…that is my fault.”

Denayer will then have a break before reporting back for City pre-season training next month and is expected to join up with the Blues for their pre-season jaunt to Australia.

With Dedryck Boyata leaving City to join Celtic last week, the space in the squad is an open invitation for Denayer.