Nico O’Reilly was eating lunch in the French capital when the reality of his situation hit him properly. Manchester City’s Under 18s were having a team meal before meeting Paris Saint-Germain in a friendly. On the TV was the first team, hammering Bournemouth in the Premier League.O’Reilly was the oldest in the group by some distance. He’d been told that he would do a second year with the youth team, not promoted to the Elite Development Squad (EDS) with the rest of his peers for what is a key gateway to senior football.Although framed as a decision for his own good amid an abnormal growth spurt, it proved a hard pill to swallow for somebody always earmarked through the academy as one Pep Guardiola would eventually call upon. They had spoken about the Collyhurst boy with an inevitability throughout his teenage years.Harder still when, back home at the Etihad Stadium and beamed on that TV, his great mate Rico Lewis – in the same teams since the age of eight – was limbering up for a senior debut off the bench. O’Reilly felt there, in that Parisian hotel, that he couldn’t be further away from the dream. The coaching team were mindful of keeping eyes on him to offer extra support.‘You could see it really affected him,’ remembers his Under 18s coach Ben Wilkinson, who has since moved up the ranks at City. ‘Nico and Rico had always been the same coming through – everyone thought the same of them.’This was the delicate balancing act that needed striking with a player who had always been a diminutive, gifted attacking midfielder – so small that Lewis was measured taller in the Under 15s (O’Reilly is now a full nine inches taller at 6ft 4in) – but would become a powerhouse at left back for club and country. Less than four years on from that afternoon in Paris, it’s hard to envisage England performing at this World Cup without O’Reilly contributing heavily. Less than four years on from that afternoon in Paris, it’s hard to envisage England performing at this World Cup without Nico O’Reilly contributing heavily O’Reilly was the oldest in the Under 18s by some distance. He’d been told that he would do a second year with the youth team, not promoted to the Elite Development Squad (EDS) Although framed as a decision for his own good amid an abnormal growth spurt, it proved a hard pill to swallow for somebody always earmarked as one Pep Guardiola would call uponThis is a story that ought to offer some perspective and hope for youngsters who might be struggling in academies. It’s a story that showcases what strong communication and a genuine family unit can do for players who lose themselves and briefly in O’Reilly’s case, their motivation. It is a story that talks to the idea that development isn’t linear and each individual goes at their own rate.Telling that to a superstar-in-waiting is not the easiest task, though.City’s reasoning for stunting his progression appeared sound. The teenager was in the midst of shooting up three and a half inches in a timeframe too quick for his body to catch up. There were fears that three games a week with the EDS – plus regular training sessions with Guardiola – would have an adverse effect on his long-term prospects.The Under 18s play once a week, giving him extra space to complete crucial physical work. City stressed that he would still play in the illustrious UEFA Youth League with his traditional cohort and there would still be occasional chances to train with the megastars, who’d go on and complete the Treble that year.They had done all this before: both Cole Palmer and Oscar Bobb were kept in the Under 18s for a second year as well. But even so. It’s wounded pride, it’s embarrassment, it’s questions.‘He was disappointed because he couldn’t see the reasoning and the rationale, and most probably felt that we almost weren’t telling him the truth,’ Wilkinson says. ‘There’s a lot of science behind it, their maturation and things like that, which is quite difficult to explain to someone. We spent loads of time trying to explain it all to him and his mum.’The season started poorly. O’Reilly not himself and his mum, Holli, called a meeting a month after Paris with Wilkinson and then head of academy coaching Stephen Torpey, now at Manchester United.‘Holli had her own worries and doubts, and she was seeing him at home probably a bit upset and down,’ Wilkinson says. ‘That was the first time I realised we might be able to turn this into a positive. Because one thing with Nico, and you still see it now, is that if she says to do something, he does it. Rico Lewis (second left) was promoted ahead of O’Reilly, who at one stage was shorter than his great friend – O’Reilly is now nine inches taller after his growth spurt Thomas Tuchel saw his potential and called him up last October. It was noticeable during the warm-up games that the 21-year-old’s attacking prowess offers a different dimension‘It’s unbelievable the relationship they’ve got. She really is the key person. And you saw that live when we were in those meetings. Afterwards, I called her and just said, “What did you think?” And then it kind of just grew from there.’Wilkinson and Holli were in regular contact for the remainder of that season. The coach realised that the club’s messaging couldn’t come from him and identified Holli as the person to coax O’Reilly into understanding his circumstances.He gave a presentation to scouts from across the world last summer about player development and finding different ways of reinforcing positive messaging. O’Reilly’s rise from that tough August to scoring goal of the season contenders each week and making a Guardiola squad in May was held up as a shining example, the obvious case study. That journey reflects well on player and club, benefitting both. Now it is the national team’s turn to reap the rewards.‘You can’t treat them all the same,’ Wilkinson says. ‘You have to find the hook. Sometimes you have to be open enough to be OK with it not being you (delivering the message).’Wilkinson remembers conversations between him and Holli, in which she discussed what is going on at home. During one, she revealed that he had ‘come to terms with the plan’ and once City’s promises – the Youth League appearances, first-team training and the only Under-18 to go on a warm-weather camp to Abu Dhabi – looked legitimate, she said that the pair had a lengthy talk and the path was sorted. ‘I’ve put his head back on his shoulders,’ Holli said.Mum and coach were on the same train down to Wembley for May’s FA Cup final – O’Reilly having already scored twice in the Carabao Cup final – and were reminiscing about the team effort of pulling him out of a funk.Smiling, Wilkinson is going through an O’Reilly highlight reel that makes your eyes grow stalks. There is one goal against United, in an Under 15s national final, that has never surfaced publicly but would make a Puskas list every single year without fail. He calls up clips of the Under 10s where the youngster’s positioning in the pockets are eerily similar to now – especially when galloping on an underlap.‘I bet you could find millions of clips of that run he makes when Jeremy (Doku) finds him,’ he adds. ‘It’s the Man City run. It’s undefendable.’ O’Reilly celebrates scoring in the Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal – thanks to a trademark ‘Man City run’ His physicality is such that him defending on the halfway line is no problem and allows the team to press higher and with more intensityWilkinson’s eyes divert back to his laptop and the clips – this time from the season he was kept down a year. ‘There, that looks like him now, right? Up until that, he didn’t move like that. You could see his gait lengthen. His power started to come in the end of that year.’Thomas Tuchel saw his potential and called him up for the first time last October. Fast forward eight months, five caps, and England are trying to hone that City move as a real weapon. It was noticeable during the warm-up games and the 21-year-old’s attacking prowess offers a different dimension.Going the other way, his physicality is such that him defending on the halfway line is no problem and allows the team to press higher and with more intensity.He always had this in him but the year to breathe, the year to stand still, means O’Reilly can now run.