Floyd Samba didn’t score against AEK Athens. He didn’t register an assist either. When Manchester City completed their 5–1 Champions League win, Phil Foden had the match ball and most of the headlines.
Yet there was a reason to pay attention to the 17-year-old who had left the pitch in the 63rd minute.
Enzo Maresca had put him up front again.
A month earlier, Samba was an academy midfielder making his senior debut in an unfamiliar position against Norwich City. He scored twice that night, giving Maresca something unexpected to consider.
Against AEK, the manager showed he hadn’t forgotten.
The experiment that started against Norwich
On 17 September, Manchester City beat Norwich 5–0 in the League Cup.
Samba started as the centre-forward, despite having spent his development years playing in midfield. Maresca explained afterwards that the position was new to him. He had even asked the teenager whether he’d played there before.
Samba said he hadn’t.
It wasn’t difficult to understand why Maresca wanted to try.
City’s academy had already seen plenty of Samba’s attacking ability. In 2025/26, he produced 17 goals and six assists in 24 youth appearances across six competitions. He could find space, carry the ball forward and arrive in the penalty area.
Those were useful qualities for an attacking midfielder. Maresca wanted to see what happened if Samba began his runs much closer to goal.
Norwich gave him an encouraging answer.
For his first goal, Samba found space in the penalty area and headed home Allan’s delivery. For his second, he received the ball to the right of goal and curled his finish beyond the goalkeeper.
Two goals on his senior debut. Not a bad introduction to a job he wasn’t accustomed to doing.
Maresca praised his finishing and decision-making, while reminding everyone that Samba wasn’t a natural No.9.
That distinction mattered.
The teenager had demonstrated that he could be useful up front in one match. City still had to decide whether the experiment deserved another opportunity.
MATCHIQ made that the central question of its September assessment.
Would Maresca actually pick him there again?
A Champions League start provided the answer
On 20 October, City hosted AEK Athens.
Maresca made eight changes to the side that had beaten Ipswich Town. Erling Haaland started on the bench, and Samba was selected in the central attacking role.
City’s team announcement made clear that the forwards could exchange positions during the match. Samba wasn’t being asked to stand between the centre-backs for 90 minutes without moving.
His starting assignment was still significant. Maresca had chosen him to perform an attacking job he had first tested only weeks earlier.
In the 12th minute, Samba became involved in the move that produced City’s opening goal.
He was brought down outside the penalty area, earning a free-kick. Enzo Fernández struck the crossbar with the resulting attempt, and Elliot Anderson reacted quickest to score from the rebound.
Samba wouldn’t receive an assist for that. He had, however, helped create the situation from which City took the lead.
The rest of the evening belonged largely to Foden.
He scored in the 34th minute after combining with Rico Lewis. AEK pulled one back through Stavros Pilios early in the second half, before Rayan Cherki restored City’s two-goal advantage.
In the 63rd minute, Maresca replaced Samba with Ryan McAidoo.
Foden went on to complete his hat-trick, with McAidoo providing the cross for his final goal.
So this wasn’t another evening when Samba stole the show with his finishing. City had other players making bigger contributions in front of goal.
What made his appearance worth recording was the selection itself.
Maresca had tried the midfielder at centre-forward against Norwich, seen him perform well and then trusted him with the same starting role in a Champions League match.
Afterwards, the manager praised Samba’s overall performance while speaking positively about the academy players involved.
The experiment had survived long enough to be repeated.
What City have gained
There is a good reason Samba hasn’t suddenly become Haaland’s established deputy.
Both of his starts up front have come in heavily rotated teams. Norwich were beaten comfortably, and AEK couldn’t prevent City from winning by four goals either.
Those matches show that Samba can be useful in particular circumstances. They don’t tell us whether he can consistently hold the ball with a defender pressing into his back, create space against a stronger defensive line or lead City’s press when the opposition enjoy more possession.
The official match reports also provide only part of the picture. A proper assessment of his movement, receiving angles and defensive responsibilities across the 63 minutes against AEK would require a closer look at the full match.
For the moment, Maresca’s selection decisions tell us more than Samba’s attacking statistics.
City began the season with a young midfielder who could score and make late runs into the box. Norwich showed that some of those abilities could work when he started further forward.
AEK showed that Maresca was prepared to use the idea a second time.
That gives City another way to manage their attack.
Haaland will remain the obvious starting point when available. Samba offers something different: a midfielder who has now twice been asked to begin a senior match as the central forward.
His future may still lie in midfield. The experience could also make him more useful arriving beyond a striker, rather than permanently replacing one.
What happens next depends on the assignment Maresca gives him when the conditions become more demanding.
If Samba is selected up front again when City aren’t rotating so heavily, or when the match requires more difficult work against experienced centre-backs, that will tell us whether the manager’s trust is extending beyond these opportunities.
For now, September’s question has a concrete answer.
Maresca tried Samba as a No.9. The teenager scored twice.
A month later, he didn’t need another two goals to show that the first performance had mattered.
The manager picked him there again.
Sources
Manchester City — AEK starting XI · AEK match report · Maresca’s post-match press conference · Norwich match report · Floyd Samba profile
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