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Jordan Blackwell in LEICESTER, England
LEICESTER  City prospect, Tawanda Maswanhise, will not be rushed into the first team as Brendan Rodgers bids to nurture the teenager’s talent.

The 18-year-old winger was among City’s best performers, in their first two pre-season football games last week, showing pace and creativity, on the left-hand side against Burton and Wycombe.

He caught Rodgers’ eye playing for City’s Under-18s last season, where he was the team’s top assist maker, and has been rewarded with a place in first-team training this summer.

He is set to represent City’s Under-23s this coming season, where Rodgers will keep an eye on his progress, the manager well aware of the potential he possesses.

“I watched him closely over the past year or so with the 18s, and he has potential but with still a lot of improvements to make,” Rodgers said.

“He trained with us at the end of last season and I liked what I saw, and he’s been with us in pre-season so far. He has lots of areas of his game he can improve but I wanted to give him a taste of it, being around the first team.

“He’s not quite ready yet but he has talent and potential and we’ll see if we can nurture that. He has to continue to improve as well.

“The plan for him at this moment in time is that he is around the first team training, he’ll play with the 23s, and then we’ll take it from there.”

If Maswanhise comes through into the first team, it will be another success story for the club’s academy.

Born in Zimbabwe, Maswanhise moved to England aged two and joined City’s academy as a kid.

Now, just like Harvey Barnes, Hamza Choudhury, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and Luke Thomas before him, he is hoping to break through after a decade growing up in the club’s youth ranks.

Also like Barnes, whose dad Paul was a professional footballer, Maswanhise hails from a sporting background.

His parents were both athletes, with his dad Jeffrey running the 400m for Zimbabwe at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games.

The 18-year-old, who received his first taste of the senior set-up when he was named on the bench for the win at Manchester United in May, is enjoying his experience with the first team as Rodgers tells him to show off his qualities.

“I felt confident when I got told the news the night before that I was in the squad and I didn’t really feel any nerves until I was on the bench,” he told the club, reflecting on the game at Old Trafford.

“It was a good experience inside the changing room. The love and all the togetherness inside the changing room was quite big in there so I felt confident and I was ready to come on.

“I felt relaxed, thinking about what if I do come on. I was just thinking about different scenarios, if I do come on or if I don’t, and it was quite good actually.

“In that week or so in the lead up to that, I was training with the first team. It’s been tough but I’m managing, I’m getting better and I’m improving day by day, so as long as I’m improving day by day, I can show the coaches what I’m doing.

“The past few games I’ve played, I’ve just had little conversations with Brendan about my positioning of where I play. I’m an attacking midfielder so he’s just telling me improvements and successful things I’ve done out of possession, so it’s been really helpful.

“It’s been a lot of games and a lot of training sessions. I’ve started both of the games now (pre-QPR) and Brendan has told me: ‘Make sure you express yourself.’

“I feel like there’s improvements here, it’s been good, I just need to keep going and we’ll see where it takes me. I’m learning.” — Leicestermercury.co.uk.