[M]ANCHESTER City young starlet Georgia Stanway has the footballing world at her feet and a bright future in the game, according to current FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd.
The 18-year-old’s talent has already attracted praise from many involved in football, and she was nominated for the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year for 2016.
Stanway joined City in 2015, and went on to win the club’s Rising Star for 2015 award.
She also won the club’s 2016 Goal of the Season award for her sensation long-range effort against Sunderland on the opening day of last season.
The Barrow-in-Furness youngster, who started out as a junior at Blackburn Rovers, penned her first professional terms with Manchester City in January, and has started the season brightly.
She assisted Lucy Bronze’s goal in City’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham City Ladies in the first game of the FA WSL 1 Spring Series on Wednesday while the two sides meet again on May 13 in the SSE Women’s FA Cup final.
And American Lloyd, on loan from Houston Dash until the end of the Spring Series, has been impressed with what she has seen of her teammate so far.
“Georgia has just turned 18 and is like a sponge,” said Lloyd. “I can see her looking at what I do and asking question after question.
“It’s really good to see young players who want to soak it all in.”
Those thoughts were echoed by Citizens captain Steph Houghton who has been most impressed with Stanway’s attitude and willingness to learn, with both hoping for further success as Manchester City chase a maiden SSE FA Cup win at Wembley.
She said: “The likes of Georgia hang off every single word that we say and try and learn.
“They try and learn and ask questions and it’s important we try and set a good example for those young players.
“The FA Cup, whether it’s women’s football or men’s football, is the one that everyone wants to win everybody wants to be part of, and it’s full of so many amazing memories, whether it’s women’s football or men’s football.
“That’s the competition you grow up watching, as a player it’s the one you want to tick off.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to win it twice with Arsenal, but the next step is to win it with Manchester City – hopefully it will be a very special day.”
Carli Lloyd was speaking on behalf of Manchester City ahead of the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final. Kids Go Free to the May 13th Final and tickets are still available via TheFA.com/Tickets
