Has Manchester City Player Phil Foden Arrived?

This has been a breakthrough season for Phil Foden, where the decision to stay at Manchester City rather than head out on loan appears to be paying dividends

In the media frenzy around Jadon Sancho, which has become a stick with which to Manchester City rather than any kind of real celebration in the merits of the player, there is an uncomfortable fact being overlooked. The narrative in the media goes something like this: Sancho left the baddies at Manchester City because they are not interested in youth and he had no chance of ever playing there, so being a plucky kind of kid he went abroad where he has achieved greatness all on his own.

What this all overlooks though is Phil Foden. The Manchester City fans have christened him somewhat humorously as the Stockport Iniesta. Foden is a local lad who has been part of Manchester City since age 8. He comes from a family of City fans and seems deeply embedded in the Club and its history. Consequently the city fans sing about him being “one of our own”.

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Foden was the stand out player in the Under 17 England side which won the World cup. Since then he has kept his head down and continued to train and work hard at Manchester City. Offered a new contract by the Club and he trusted in his own ability and signed it – unlike Sancho who did not believe he was good enough to dislodge world class players.

Foden has decided to stay and train with the first team rather than seeking a move away from the club on loan. The debate here is that first team action in any side may be a better way to develop his skills than by staying with the best players in the world under the guidance of the worlds best coach. Foden clearly thinks that debate does not stack up and instead he has challenged for inclusion in the first team based on merit.

So a young player, impresses and trains hard and forces himself into contention in the best side in the country at age 18. That seems to be a different narrative than the one being peddled in the media which is all rather negative.

It seems hard for me to believe but Foden was born after the turn of the new century – he is not 19 until the end of May. If we look at his statistics this season they are pretty impressive and seem to justify the decision he has made to fight for a place in our side on merit. He has made 19 appearances so far in all competitions, scoring 3 goals and assisting another 3. People may point out that his total time on the pitch has amounted to 755 minutes as though that is a bad thing. Quite the opposite – this may be a young player who looks likely to last the distance rather than burning out buy age 30.

His careful introduction to our side may be beneficial to his career whereas Sancho could yet end up with a career like Jermaine Pennant by age 25. That is difficult to say for sure at the moment amidst all the hype. All I can say confidently is that Foden is demonstrating a clear path to first team football which should be celebrated by the media rather than criticised. And everytime I see Foden I can not help but think he is like a young Spanish player rather than an English one, being steadily moulded under the close attention of Pep Guardiola into the new David Silva.