Will Bradford City follow Spain lead by playing youngsters?

Lamine Yamal did turn the grand old age of 17 at the weekend – 24 hours before collecting a winners’ medal after breaking English hearts in Berlin.

Young gun Yamal has emerged as one of the most exciting footballers on the planet over the last few weeks.

Box-office heavyweights Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo were shunted to the sideline as Yamal spearheaded the invasion of the next generation.

Yamal, Arda Guler, England’s Kobbie Mainoo and “grand old men” like 22-year-old Nico Williams and Jamal Musiala at 21 have smashed the glass ceiling.

City first-year pro Gabe Wadsworth has said how much of an inspiration their success has been for young players like himself taking their initial step on the ladder.

Here is evidence of managers and coaches prepared to give young talent its head – none more so than Spain’s winning boss Luis de la Fuente, who has taken many of the players from his time working in the age-group teams along with him on the journey.

“Spain have got a confidence from their manager and knowing the way they are going to play,” said City boss Graham Alexander.

“Watching Yamal and the way he plays, he looks superb.

“You see that and you think about young players who are 20-21. You talk about their age and then you someone who has been doing that on the big stage at 16.

“Some of these 20-year-olds are veterans in comparison!

“But there have always been great young players coming through. You can go back to Pele and Norman Whiteside, Wayne Rooney.

“There have always been those exceptions that have burst onto the scene.”

Time will tell whether the trend will become more commonplace in domestic football.

Alexander insists he has always given youngsters a chance to prove themselves at every club where he has managed alongside assistant Chris Lucketti.

“We don’t judge players off their age – 38, 28, 18, we just look at what they can do.

“If they can help your team win, that should be enough.

“I’ve never really gone for their ages. It’s about the competition and what they do in training.

“That’s why we all expose the young players at the clubs we’ve managed to first team football as soon as possible and quite often.”

George Goodman, one of the second-year scholars that has featured in the friendlies, is an example of that.

Spain's Lamine Yamal celebrates after beating England (Image: Matthias Schrader)

Currently with Northern Ireland under-19s in their own Euro finals, Goodman was elevated to the senior training group midway through last season.

There are others who have been promoted to see how they can handle working in a senior environment.

“You just don’t know what you’re going to unearth,” added Alexander.

“Instead of waiting for the process to take over and thinking, ‘now he’s a pro so let’s have a look at him’, if they are technically good and hold themselves well, just put them in training and see how they are.

“Certainly in pre-season, it’s a great opportunity for young players to pop their head above the parapet and show what they can do.

“You’ve just got to be ready for when an opportunity knocks.

“I think we’ve given loads of players debuts as teenagers over the years. Some have gone on to play loads of games in first teams, some have struggled to then maintain it.

“But if they show the right attributes, I don’t see any harm in giving them the opportunity to play.”

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