Ryan McAidoo Scout Report At Manchester City 2025/2026: From Chelsea Prospect To Next Pep Guardiola Star? – Player Analysis

Some exceptionally young and gifted English attacking talent have graced the Premier League stage in recent weeks.

Rio Ngumoha became Liverpools youngest ever goalscorer at 16 years and 361 days, when he scored the dramatic late winner away at Newcastle United.

At the same time, Arsenals 15-year-old sensation Max Dowman recently won a penalty against Leeds United before being handed minutes at Anfield.

The next teenager in line to debut could well be a young winger who played alongside both Ngumoha and Dowman in the U17 European Championships back in April.

That name belongs to Manchester Citys London-born winger, Ryan McAidoo.

Now 17, McAidoo made headlines in the youth football circle last summer for making the controversial transfer to Man City from Chelsea, adding further salt to the Blues wounds in the wake of Ngumohas departure.

City Football Academy chiefs, Thomas Krucken and Sam Fagbemi, were said to have viewed McAidoos signing as a major heist, given that he was one of the leading talents in the Chelsea youth team.

The promise of a clearer pathway into the first team was reportedly a driving factor in McAidoo transfer to Manchester.

Academy graduates Phil Foden, James McAtee, Rico Lewis, and Nico OReilly are all proof of this, with each of them recording 20-plus appearances last season.

This Ryan McAidoo player analysis and scout report will examine Ryan McAidoo style of play, athletic and technical attributes, and his projected integration into Manchester City’s tactical framework under Pep Guardiola during the 2025/2026 campaign and beyond.

Ryan McAidoo Stats

McAidoo was already developing nicely in West London before joining City, and he has been a regular England youth international since 2023.

Still, he has escalated to a whole new level after just one season in Manchester.

The right-winger amassed 42 appearances across six competitions last season, including a substitute cameo against Grimsby Town in the EFL Trophy, registering an awe-inspiring 16 goals and seven assists.

McAidoos attacking output is already at a strong level at this stage of his development, with promising averages of 0.68 goals (0.61 xG also bodes well) and 0.24 per 90.

Perhaps the greatest example of this end product improvement arrived in the UEFA Youth League itself last season, when McAidoo scored a stunning 18-minute hat-trick off the bench against Feyenoord.

However, what stands out the most for me in McAidoos statistical profile is the sheer volume of dribble attempts.

Remarkably, the young Manchester City winger attempted 57 dribbles in just 397 UEFA Youth League minutes last season, 55% of which were successful, making him one of the most persistent and effective ball carriers in the competition.

Generally, Ryan McAidoo’s data portrays him as a technically gifted, intelligent, all-around winger whose strengths lie in his productivity in the final third, his sharp 1-v-1 dribbling ability, and his instinctive understanding of attacking spaces.

Ryan McAidoo Style Of Play

So, how is McAidoo actually platformed to showcase his many strengths in the Manchester City Academy?

As a left-footed right winger, Citys youth sides typically pair McAidoo with energetic right-backs who tend to overlap, creating space for McAidoo to cut in on that left with ample time to shoot or cross.

A very high-volume dribbler, McAidoo profiles as a direct wide forward whom Manchester City consistently look to isolate in 1-v-1 situations against opposing left-backs.

He tends to operate in advanced positions, though he is