Phil Foden is a 18 year old English midfielder who currently plays his football with the Premier League giants Manchester City. He’s already broke in to the first eleven a number of times and has done well throughout his youth football career too. Tipped by many to be the next big English talent alongside players like Jadon Sancho and Joe Gomez, let’s dive into his past and present and i’ll give my views on the potential future superstar.
Youth Football
Phil Foden is of a rare breed of young players who is yet to have moved clubs at all. He joined the club he has supported all his life at the age of 8 and signed his official academy scholarship in the summer of 2016. Much of his early success however does not come from his youth days at City but in the youth teams of the England national team, in particular the world cup winning U17 squad. He played in every single game of that tournament which they won all 7 of them beating Spain 5-2 in the final. He scored 3 goals and got 1 assist in total in a rampant England team who blew teams away with his teammate Rhian Brewster scoring 8 goals and Jadon Sancho scoring 3 in 3 games too but more on them another time. As mentioned England won the tournament and Foden was awarded the Golden Ball otherwise known as player of the tournament for his performances. He is yet to be called up to the senior squad but if he gets more game time at City then this will definitely happen in the near future.
Performances this season
This season he has played 17 times in total for Manchester City however only 8 of these have been in the league. He’s yet to score in the league in his career but does have 2 goals in the EFL cup and 1 goal in the FA cup so far this season. He has mostly played a Centre Midfield role in his appearances this season but probably suits a number 10 role more as he has a very good attacking brain and has an assist in him too not to mention a goal or two. His link up play with the other City players is good even with lack of game time together and having players like David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne around him will help his growth hugely with amazing players to learn off. At 18 years old still he has his whole career ahead of him which if given game time at City could see him stay there for a huge portion if not all his career.
Looking to the future
Now for my opinion on what this young gem could become. He has bags and bags of potential and is playing for one of the best football teams in the world. As said before, players of the calibre as the likes of Silva and De Bruyne along with arguably the best coach/manager in the world means that Foden could become one of the worlds best in the future if given the chance to grow. I think that if not given the chance he frankly deserves in Manchester he should look elsewhere even if the club means a lot to him (Realistically they’ll just buy him back anyway). Wherever he ends up he will be a staple of the first 11 and will be the main creative and attacking source of the team too. Not to mention he could make the English national team move up to a whole new level with his fellow youth colleagues. I mean it when I say he could be a future ballon d’or winner and be talked about in the same conversation as Mbappe and the likes. He’s already achieved more than me and he’s two years younger! No pressure then right?
TheBeautifulGame 