Pep Guardiola would love to unearth his own Class of ‘92 at Manchester City, but he is wary of putting labels of that kind against his young players.

Guardiola famously introduced Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Pedro into his squad when he took over at Barcelona, so he knows all about combining local talent with stars gathered from far and wide.

That City are blessed with those stars is not in doubt, but it is a case of tapping into the academy for a new generation.

And for the last 13 minutes of Manchester City’s routine FA Cup third-round victory over Port Vale last Saturday, there was a tantalising glimpse of a potential sky-blue future.

Phil Foden, 19, and 17-year-old Taylor Harwood-Bellis had both scored in the 4-1 win and they were joined for a late cameo by Tommy Doyle, 18, as a substitute.

These three teenagers are blue to the core. That was shown by the sight of Harwood-Bellis and Doyle in the away end during Tuesday’s 3-1 win at Old Trafford in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final with neighbours United.