The route to the top can seem relatively straightforward for the star pupils of Manchester City's academy.

On Monday, Cole Palmer banged in another four goals for Chelsea as he continued to make his £42.5million summer move from City look like one of the bargains of the season.

On Tuesday, Jadon Sancho - finally flourishing in exile from Manchester United back at Borussia Dortmund - was celebrating reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League.

On Wednesday, Phil Foden narrowly failed to join him despite converting in City's penalty shootout defeat by a Real Madrid side that featured Brahim Diaz, missing out on the semis for the first time in four years.

And on Thursday, Jeremie Frimpong scored a late goal to preserve Bayer Leverkusen's incredible unbeaten record as the new Bundesliga champions completed a Europa League quarter-final victory over West Ham.

Coventry City striker Ellis Simms will look to pile the pain on Manchester United at Wembley

Ellis Simms, on the other hand, belongs to a different group of City scholars. Those young men who reached a crossroads when they were let go at a young age, and had to navigate a trickier path to where they want to be.

For him, it was Blackpool, Heart of Midlothian and Sunderland on loan from Everton.

'A lot of them aren't playing in the top four divisions now,' Simms tells Mail Sport of the other members of his City academy group born around the year 2000, which included Frimpong and Sancho's Dortmund team-mate Felix Nmecha.

They mixed regularly with Foden, Sancho, Diaz and Palmer. 'Yeah, a lot to be honest,' says Simms. 'You could see they had the ability from that age, especially Phil Foden. You couldn't get the ball off him.

'He was agile and his left foot was like a wand. Everything he hit was in the top corner. 

'Cole was similar to Phil. Very technical and a good dribbler. But with football, you go on different journeys and meet so many new people. I haven't really stayed in touch, but if we come across each other we have a little catch-up.'

Sunday is Simms' turn in the spotlight. Coventry meet Manchester United in the second FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, 24 hours after Foden and City saw off Palmer and Chelsea in the first.

The 23-year-old striker is making his first appearance at the national stadium having agonisingly missed out on Blackpool's victory over Lincoln City in the 2021 League One play-off final after suffering a groin strain in shooting practice the day before the game.

'It was heartbreaking,' says Simms. 'Kind of tragic in a way, but what can you do about it? That's life. I was gutted to miss the game, but the most important thing is that we managed to win.'

Coventry endured play-off pain of their own last season before signing Simms in the summer, losing out to Luton for a place in the Premier League on penalties. They return to Wembley in the FA Cup looking to follow in the footsteps of the Sky Blue heroes of '87.

'It's a massive game,' says Simms. 'I'd say this is the most important (of my career). I've never played at Wembley. It's iconic. A few played at Wembley last year so they've got a feel for the place.'

Simms scored two goals in a sensational 3-2 quarter-final win at Wolves, including an equaliser in the seventh minute of injury-time before strike partner Haji Wright claimed a last-gasp winner. 

'No one would have seen it coming,' he recalls. 'We had a lot of fans there, the whole of the bottom tier at Molineux. It was a massive moment, especially when the whistle blew and we saw how much it meant to them.'

Simms and Wright, two strapping 6ft 3in forwards, will be a handful for a United defence missing a number of first-team stars with Willy Kambwala once again likely to partner Harry Maguire in the middle.

'Me and Haji are both in good form at the minute,' says Simms. 'We just want to focus on ourselves and what we can bring to the team with our size, pace and power.'

Simms has scored 18 goals in his first season at Coventry. It includes 15 in his last 17 games, at one point last month making him the leading scorer in England's top four divisions in 2024.

'The average return in terms of goals is probably the best of my career so far, so I would definitely say I'm in a good moment,' he says. 'I want to keep that going and see where it takes me.'

He grew up a City fan like his dad - 'I wasn't like diehard where I'd be crying if they lost' - and joined the club's academy from Blackburn, training at Platt Lane before the move to the new CFA.

Simms was released at the age of 16 and moved to Everton where he earned a professional contract after scoring 46 goals in one season for the Under 18s.

He made his Premier League debut against Chelsea in December 2021 and celebrated his first goal against the same club during an 11-game run in the first team last season.

But after those loan spells, he left Everton for good in the summer and joined Coventry in a deal worth up to £8m.

The plan is to get back to the top-flight, rubbing shoulders with Foden and Palmer once again, even though Coventry's play-off push has faltered.

'I'm very determined to get back to that level. Obviously last year I got a little taste of it. It was great to get that feel for it and once you do that, you want to keep playing in the Premier League. It's where everyone aspires to be playing.'