Manchester City are getting three promising Brazilian youngsters through the door later this month, with Bahia sending Leônidas, Daniel David and Lyan over for a two-week training spell.
The trio will arrive on November 29 and stay until December 14. They’ll train at City’s facilities, get a taste of how the academy works and see what life in English football is like.
And they’re not exactly starting from scratch. All three have already represented Brazil at youth level.
Before anyone gets too excited about potential signings, though, there’s a catch. This isn’t a trial or a transfer-related visit. It’s all part of the relationship between Bahia and Manchester City through the City Football Group.
Three Brazil youngsters heading to Manchester
Brazilian newspaper A Tarde explains that the three players have been picked for the latest exchange programme between the two clubs.
Leônidas is a centre-back who earned a Brazil U15 call-up in 2025. Daniel David, a forward, was also selected for that age group last year and went on to represent the U16s in 2026.
Then there’s Lyan, another attacking player who has already been involved with Brazil’s U17s this year. According to another local outlet, he was part of the squad for the South American Championship, where he was backup to Kauê Furquim.
So City will have three youngsters with a bit of international experience joining their training sessions.
Bahia academy director Marcelo Teixeira is understandably pleased with the arrangement.
“This exchange is an important opportunity for the development of the three players.”
“They’ll get to experience Manchester City’s academy routine up close, train in a different environment, experience a new culture and language, and return with experiences that contribute to their growth, both as people and as footballers.”
“It’s an opportunity that Bahia’s integration into the City Football Group offers our young players.”
The idea is to give them a different perspective on football, from training methods to everyday academy life. They’ll then take that experience back to Brazil.
Manchester City have been doing this for a while
This isn’t City’s first batch of youngsters from Bahia. Far from it. Roger Gabriel trained with City and Girona in 2023, before Ruan Pablo made the trip to Manchester the following year. Sidney, meanwhile, headed to Belgium for a spell at Lommel SK.
And as recently as April, Jonathan Marinho and Ruan Victor were involved in training activities with City’s U18s. Now Leônidas, Daniel David and Lyan are next in line.
It’s one of the perks of having clubs spread across the world. Bahia can send their best young talents to experience European football, while City get to work with some of Brazil’s promising academy players.
Of course, the Brazilian reports are clear that this isn’t a trial. Nobody is suggesting City are preparing to sign any of the three. But they’ll have a couple of weeks to get a feel for Manchester, and City will get a closer look at what Bahia are producing.
And who knows? Perhaps one of them will end up wearing City’s sky blue for real one day.
