Remember Vladimir Weiss?
The Slovakian winger, who made a grand total of five appearances for Manchester City over his six years at the club, wasn’t the only youngster plucked from the Eastern Europe country around that time.
In 2004, the Premier League club convinced 13-year-old Robert Mak to leave SK Slovan Bratislava to travel to the north of England to integrate in their academy, where he stayed for seven years.
Never making an appearance for what is now Pep Guardiola’s team, the left winger was allowed to transfer to FC Nuremberg in 2010 for a small £213k.
From there, his career has taken him to Greece with PAOK in 2014, before a transfer to Zenit Saint-Petersburg in the summer saw his career take a turn for the better, where he is now an important and prolific part of Mircea Lucescu’s setup.
Also a Slovakian international, the 25-year-old is currently battling the likes of Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Raheem Sterling for top spot in Group F of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
Speaking to FIFA.com, Mak was confident his country were capable of competing with Gareth Southgate’s team for top spot in the group, as well as recalling his transfer to Manchester City 12 years ago.
He said: “I was about 15-years-old, I hadn’t even finished school! It was difficult for my parents to let me go, but a year later they moved to Manchester as well. It was very difficult at the start, but now I understand it was the best decision of my life.
“I became the player I am thanks to Manchester City’s academy; I learned a lot there. Their set-up for playing football is incomparable with what you find in Slovakia. It was an experience, I got through it and I’m very happy about that. I would never had learned everything I did there had I stayed at home.”
Seemingly extremely grateful for the opportunity handed to him by the Premier League side, the forward has impressed since his move to Russia, scoring six goals and picking up two assists in 15 appearances (10 starts).
Maybe a return to England could be an option one day… He’d count as home grown, after all.
