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Alleyne on his whirlwind City debut
- Story by
- Alleyne on his whirlwind City debut
Alleyne on his whirlwind City debut
Max Alleyne has lifted the lid on a hectic 24 hours that saw him preparing to face Hull City one moment and then being named in the Blues' starting XI to face Brighton the next!
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Alleyne had been on a season-long loan with Watford and impressed in the 17 games he played for the Championship outfit.
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But a defensive injury crisis that saw former boss Pep Guardiola robbed of Ruben Dias , Josko Gvardiol and John Stones meant the 21-year-old centre-back was needed back at his parent club.
"My debut was a bit crazy," smiled Alleyne during a feature filmed on our Asia Tour that you can see in full on Matchday Live before Wednesday's meeting with K-League All Stars.
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"I was at Watford and we had Hull away and about five minutes before kick-off, it gets cancelled.
"So, from there I go and stay at my partner's place in Lincoln. I wake up the next morning, and I have about 10 missed calls from a random Portuguese phone number - and it's Hugo [Viana].
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"We speak and he said he'll see me tomorrow. Before I knew it, it was the Tuesday night, I was back at City ,and we kicked off against Brighton.
"We played OK, we didn't win the game when we probably should have, but I really enjoyed it. To play at the Etihad was so special.
"It was crazy. I had no boots because the kitmen had taken them back down to Watford, so I had nothing. I went to the Adidas shop in town buying boots. It was crazy but if anything I preferred it like that.
"There was no time to overthink or get nervous about it, it was bang, bang, bang. The whistle went and I enjoyed it."
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Alleyne would play seven times for the Blues in total, with opportunities becoming more limited as more experienced senior players returned from injury.
But he continued his education in training, learning from the likes of Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Stones – among others – as the season progressed."
"It's super helpful [having such experience to learn from]," he said.
"I sometimes think that I don't use the players around me enough, but just then on the way back from training we've had a good chat about little things last season and this season.
"I need to rely on the players around me more because there's so much talent and experience here."
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Watch the feature on Matchday Live before kick-off on Wednesday, with an extended version available on mancity.com and our official app later this week.
Watch our last 2026 tour game on CITY+!
Subscribe to CITY+ now to see City's games during our 2026 pre-season tour of Asia.
After a draw with Inter and win over K-League All Stars, we'll now face Atletico Madrid on Sunday 9 August at 12:00 (UK).
It will be available to watch on mancity.com and our official app for current CITY+ subscribers globally*.
Available for £34.99 annually or £9.99 per month, or unlock CITY+ as part of Premium Membership (£65/year), which brings together the best of City, in one membership.
* City v Atletico Madrid : Globally available except South Korea, Spain
