Club career
Manchester City
Humphreys grew up in Moston, Manchester and supported Manchester United as a boy. [3] He spent time with Blackburn Rovers and Oldham Athletic, though did not enjoy the experience and returned to the more relaxed atmosphere of Sunday League football. [4] [3] He joined the youth system at Manchester City at the age of 13. [5] He began his scholarship in 2014. [6] He formed a centre-back partnership with Tosin Adarabioyo, quickly working his way into Patrick Vieira's under-19 team. [7] He played in the 2015 FA Youth Cup final defeat to Chelsea. [8] He was named Players' Player of the Year at the 2014–15 Academy Awards. [9]
At the age of 16, he travelled with the first-team squad on their pre-season tour and played in a friendly fixture against Real Madrid after being called up by manager Manuel Pellegrini. [10] He signed his first professional (three-year) contract on 24 August, two days after his 17th birthday. [11] He was praised for his character by coach Jason Wilcox, whilst Academy manager Simon Davies said that he planned to make Humphreys a captain to improve his leadership skills. [12] [13]
"To play in front of 100,000 people was crazy. I think I had a good game and I played the full 90 minutes I actually did a Cruyff turn on Ronaldo, I took the ball off Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale gave me his shirt after the game. It was a good experience."
— Humphreys reflecting on his non-competitive debut at the age of 16 in Australia. [3]
On 30 January 2016, he made his competitive debut in an FA Cup game against Aston Villa when he replaced Nicolás Otamendi 88 minutes into a 4–0 victory at Villa Park. [14] He also featured in the following round, a 5–1 defeat at Chelsea where Pellegrini named a plethora of youngsters in the matchday squad. [15] [16] He made no more first-team appearances during his three remaining years at the City of Manchester Stadium and rejected the club's offer of a new contract to instead look for senior football elsewhere, though later admitted that he should have first spoken with manager Pep Guardiola. [17]
Rotherham United
On 5 July 2022, Humphreys signed a three-year contract with Championship club Rotherham United. [24] He briefly struggled with a hamstring injury in August, which initially seemed "serious", [25] before becoming an ever-present in the second half of the 2022–23 season, impressing both in a 3–5–2 and 4–3–3 system. [26] Manager Matt Taylor said he was excelling in his all-round game and had particularly improved his prowess in the air. [27]
Taylor started negotiations on a new contract in August 2023, saying he felt Humphreys could play in the Premier League. [28] Paul Warne, now manager of Derby County, refuted speculation that he would sign Humphreys for £1.5 million as "I have quite a lot of centre-backs and I haven't got £1.5m", though insisted that "I take full credit for signing Cameron Humphreys [at Rotherham] and he is an amazing centre-back". [29] However, he suffered a hamstring injury the following month, which required surgery and ruled him out of action for the rest of the year. [30] He eventually made his return after just over four-and-a-half months out as the injury – a tear close to the tendon – was "about as serious a hamstring injury as you can get". [31] He was eased back to full fitness by short-lived boss Leam Richardson. [32] Humphreys played 27 games in the 2023–24 campaign, [33] which ended in relegation. [34]
He scored his first career goal on 14 September 2024, in a 2–2 draw with Burton Albion at the New York Stadium. [35] Humphreys was initially banished from the matchday squad by new manager Steve Evans, [36] who accused him of "under-eights defending". [37] Evans then played him out of position in defensive midfield midway through the 2024–25 campaign as he wanted to inject more mobility and a high press in attack. [38] Initially believed to be on his way out under Evans, the manager remarked that "he's taken to the role like a duck takes to water". [39] He made 113 appearances for the Millers, scoring his second career goal in his final game for the club, the winner in a 2–1 victory over Peterborough United. [40] He left the club after rejecting the offer of a new contract, which manager Matt Hamshaw said was due to him seeking "a fresh challenge... it wasn't about terms". [41] [36]
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