Jeremy Monga's Rapid Rise from Cage Football to Premier League Stuns Even Friends

Jeremy Monga’s ascent from cage football to the Premier League has been so swift that even his friends are “star-struck”. Bought by Manchester City from Leicester City last month for £12.5 million (around US$16.8 million), the 17-year-old told the South China Morning Post: “My friends never know what’s going to happen next, I just keep coming up with surprising things. “To be honest, I never know myself what will happen next.” Staging posts along Monga’s meteoric rise have included playing in the Premier League at 15, and becoming the youngest goalscorer in both the Championship and the English top-flight’s under-21 competition. A slight but strong winger, Monga developed the attributes that distinguished him from his peers – dribbling, close control and ability to escape from tight spaces – playing cage football, small-sided games on confined urban pitches, in his home city of Coventry. “I still play it to this day,” he said. “I’ve learned all of my skills from actually playing the game and enjoying it.”