Sky Sports understands that Pep Guardiola has no intentions of sending Phil Foden out on loan to interested clubs next season and instead is setting up plans for a bumper pay rise. Manchester City are ready to offer the 18-year-old a new contract extension as they look to defend their Premier League title.
Foden is still on his first three-year agreement with the Citizens and has already picked up an English top-flight winners medal. Aged 17 years and 350 days old, he became the youngest player to pull off such a feat.
The Englishman is a product of the City youth academy, having joined the side when he was just 8. He is one of the brightest young talents in the Premier League and already has won major honours for his home country.
Foden helped England to win the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup and even grabbed the Golden Ball award for himself. The Stockport-born midfielder has 34 caps and 14 goals registered to his name for the Three Lions youth sides.
Pep Guardiola rates the attacking midfielder highly and has featured him as a sporadic option the last term. Foden appeared in 5 Premier League games and 3 UEFA Champions League matches for City last term.
He was particularly impressive during the Champions League group stage match against FC Basel. We got to see a teenager grace the pitch with composure and maturity well beyond his years.
After the game when asked about his performance, Guardiola replied, “He was good. In the second half maybe him with Leroy Sane, was the only one who tried to be aggressive, tried to do something, to get the ball and move forward.”
Standing at just 5 feet 7 inches, Foden is not the most athletic figure on the pitch but might just be the smartest. What he uses to outsmart opposition defenders are his balance, agility and exceptional technical abilities.
He is fast enough to drift in and out of tight spaces with ease and has the vision to find his teammates in threatening positions.
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Guardiola might have seen enough of the youngster to give him a much more important role in the first team next season. Currently, chances are low with established professionals like David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan in the team but the youngster can learn a lot from the aforementioned names.
