Onuoha found himself out of the first team during Roberto Mancini's tenure at City, receiving a text message telling him not to attend the club's first-team training. He and a number of other players were to instead train with City's Under-16s and Under-18s and miss out on the club's tour of the United States. "When you hear that someone isn't allowed to train with the first team, you tend to believe it's for disciplinary reasons... that's something I never was," he said. "You find yourself trapped in a position where you are nowhere near doing the thing which you love." That evening, Onuoha received a text telling them they could now only come to the training ground from 3pm onward - the latest time anyone in the first team would still be present.

Source: BBC January 31, 2026 18:01 UTC