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When Manchester City spent almost £30million on a teenage central defender with less than 25 senior games under his belt in January, it was clear they had signed a player with high potential.

Then director of football Txiki Begiristain enthused about Vitor Reis' combination of physicality and quality on the ball, traits that would mark him out as a very modern central defender.

City have seen glimpses of that ability in four appearances for the club, in games as diverse as an FA Cup win at Leyton Orient to a Club World Cup fixture against Wydad AC.

As high as Reis' potential is, and as much as City said the deal was for the present and the future, the Brazil Under-17 international was always going to find it tough to break into this side straight away.

Manuel Akanji mig

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