Manchester City are ready to extend Phil Foden’s future commitments to the club, beyond the summer of 2020. He just turned 18 last Monday and is still on his first three-year professional contract. Foden also broke the record of being the youngest ever Premier League winner when he picked up his medal earlier this month, aged 17 years and 350 days old.
Foden is a product of the Manchester City youth academy and has been with the club for almost a decade now. It must be surreal for the youngster to already have a league winner’s medal hanging from his neck, let alone be fielded for the senior team. At 17, the majority of the players are either fighting their way through the youth ranks or trying to get clubs to sign them.
Foden has managed to do all that and is still finding ways to surprise his current boss, Pep Guardiola. The attacking midfielder appeared in 5 Premier League games and 3 UEFA Champions League matches for Manchester City last term.
His performance in the 1-2 Champions League group stage defeat to Basel was eye-opening for many. We got to see the starlet take the pitch with composure and grace, well beyond his years. After the game, when asked about his performance, Guardiola replied, “He was good. In the second half maybe he with Leroy Sane was the only one who tried to be aggressive, tried to do something, to get the ball and move forward.”
Foden has also proven to be an exceptional talent at the international stage. He helped England to the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup and even grabbed the Golden Ball award himself. The Stockport-born midfielder has been capped 34 times for England’s youth sides and has scored 14 goals.
Standing at just 5 feet 7 inches, Foden does not exactly paint the most athletic or dominant figure on the pitch. What he uses to outsmart opposition defenders are his intelligence and extraordinary technical abilities. He is agile enough to drift in and out of tight spaces to set up his teammates.
Foden is also particularly clever around the box when really pushed up against the opposition back four. It is being reported that the Citizens have no plans of sending him out on loan next season.
Guardiola might have seen enough of the youngster to give him a much more important role in the first team.
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City might not need Foden at the moment with the likes of David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan in the team but he could be the ideal figure in the future and to award a long-term contract is a right approach to keep the sensational youngster at the Etihad.
