Man City wonderkid is unfortunate warning to Premier League transfer trend

It's fair to say that Kayky's arrival at Manchester City caused a lot more of a stir than his departure, confirmed last week and barely registering beyond a few wistful 'remember him' social media posts.

City spent £9million to sign the then 17-year-old from Fluminense in April 2021 and they didn't hide his arrival as they do with many teenage prospects. It was given big billing and the excitement from supporters was immediate, especially as the Brazilian attacker was being kept in-house, rather than loaned out to another City Football Group club.

His 13 appearances in Premier League 2 produced six goals and four assists and did little to dampen the excitement. He made his first-team debut in January 2022, playing four minutes at the end of a 4-1 FA Cup win at Swindon Town, and then got six minutes in the Premier League at Norwich in February.

That turned out to be that. A player compared to Neymar began to struggle with injuries and his development stalled, to the point that last week a loan move to CFG outfit Bahia was made permanent.

Maybe those fitness issues were always lingering there. Looking back now, Pep Guardiola's first comments about the teenager in October 2021, soon after his arrival from Brazil, feel telling.

"He’s just arrived. Had some knee problems. He’s training with us, getting to know us, getting to know English football," Guardiola said at the time.

"He’s very young. We know of his talent, otherwise he wouldn’t have come, or City wouldn’t have signed him.

"He’s very smart, very prepared. Fernandinho talks to him a lot, our captains take care of things a lot, that’s why Fernandinho is a jewel.

"Little by little he will be integrated, he will try to have matches for the second team, seek rhythm. And soon his performances will decide what to do."

Injuries hurt Kayky, none more so than an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in July 2023, which kept him out for more than a year. That was after a loan to Pacos Ferreira in Portugal and was suffered in his first spell at Bahia. There was then a temporary move to Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands, but that was plagued by more injury issues, and he left the pitch in tears after picking up a muscle strain in one game in November 2024.

Kayky, now 22, has clearly benefited from Bahia coming under the CFG umbrella. He returned on loan initially at the start of the year and scored against Palmeiras in April, his first competitive goal since before his serious knee injury.

He has plenty of time to rebuild his career and get back on the right track, and he could yet make a return to Europe. But in a summer when Premier League clubs again target young Brazilian players, with Estevao signing for Chelsea the headline move, it is a reminder that the path to the top isn't easy.

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