Phil Foden's future is a challenge for Manchester City and Pep Guardiola
Manchester City face Burton Albion in the Carabao Cup live on Sky Sports on Wednesday evening
Wednesday 23 January 2019 18:32, UK
Brahim Diaz's decision to follow Jadon Sancho through the Manchester City exit has put the spotlight on Phil Foden. So what are the prospects of their great academy hope now forcing his way into the team? It is challenge not just for him but for the club…
In May 2017, soon after Manchester City's first season under Pep Guardiola had ended in a third-placed Premier League finish, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak gave an interview in which he talked up the future of the club and the three young players he hoped would form a key part of it.
"What makes it special this year especially is that we have three or four players that we genuinely believe have a very good chance of making it to the first team. You look at Jadon Sancho, you look at Phil Foden, you look at Brahim Diaz. They are extremely talented players. If you ask Pep today, he will tell you they can and will be first-team players at Manchester City."
Al Mubarak was certainly right to be excited by City's future, and he was also right about the potential of their three rising stars. The problem, of course, is that two of the three are now realising that potential elsewhere. Sancho severed ties with City soon after Al Mubarak's comments, with Diaz sealing his move to Real Madrid earlier this month.
It is a damning indictment of the lack of opportunity in the Premier League that a young player like Diaz feels he will get more chances with 13-time European champions Madrid than he would at City, but he and Sancho are not the only ones to have lost patience.
The stream of young players moving abroad is gaining momentum, with Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi, a £35m target for Bayern Munich, the next potential high-profile departure.
It is a trend which demands some self-reflection from Premier League clubs. It also adds to the intrigue surrounding what happens next with Foden at Manchester City.
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The 18-year-old, a City player since the age of eight, is an exceptional talent who counts Guardiola among his most vocal admirers - "He's going to stay with us for many, many years," the City boss proclaimed recently - but actual first-team opportunities have been limited so far.
Foden has featured in eight Champions League and cup fixtures this season, scoring three goals, but in the Premier League he has only played 139 minutes since his debut 18 months ago. On Sunday against managerless Huddersfield, he did not make it off the bench despite City being three goals up from the 56th minute.
Foden has given no indication that he sees his future elsewhere and it is also important to remember that he is still four months shy of his 19th birthday, but he could be forgiven for casting envious glances towards his old academy team-mates on the continent.
Foden and Sancho are only two months apart in age, but the latter has played 1,797 Bundesliga minutes since swapping City for Borussia Dortmund in 2017, earning three England caps and carving out a reputation as one of the most exciting young players in Europe. Diaz, meanwhile, has made three senior appearances in little more than two weeks since joining Madrid.
Foden, Golden Ball winner during England U17s' World Cup triumph in 2017, is regarded by some as the most talented of the trio, but competition for places in City's midfield could hardly be tougher. In addition to having Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan on the pitch on Sunday, City had David Silva and Bernardo Silva alongside Foden on the bench.
On the one hand, Foden could not ask for a better set of players to learn from. "We've got the best set of players and the best staff so I'm in the right position," he said recently. "I'm learning off them every day, so I couldn't be in a better place. It's brilliant to play alongside players like Kevin De Bruyne. You just learn from the best."
But on the other hand, it makes the task of breaking into the team far harder. David Silva turned 33 earlier this month. The idea is that Foden will one day succeed him in City's midfield. But with nine goals in 27 appearances so far this season, the Spaniard is showing no imminent signs of slowing down.
Guardiola has preached patience with Foden, insisting he will "have a lot of minutes" in the future, but at this crucial stage in his development, the onus is on City to be brave with him now. The 18-year-old is good enough. Neither Al Mubarak nor Guardiola need to be told that. The challenge is to give him more opportunities to show it.
