Man City Square
Fansided

Manchester City: Next Season Should Be Phil Foden’s Time

By Dan Larsen

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 20: Phil Foden of Manchester City runs with the ball during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at Etihad Stadium on April 20, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 20: Phil Foden of Manchester City runs with the ball during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at Etihad Stadium on April 20, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next

After making significant progress in each of the past two seasons for Manchester City as a role player, the 2019-20 season is the time for Phil Foden to shine.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – APRIL 20: Phil Foden of Manchester City runs with the ball during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at Etihad Stadium on April 20, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – APRIL 20: Phil Foden of Manchester City runs with the ball during the Premier League match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at Etihad Stadium on April 20, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

Much of the focus of Manchester City’s summer, thus far, has been on who the club may add through the transfer market. One impact talent, however, has been overlooked during this process and may prove to be Manchester City’s strongest new contributor to their starting XI next year: Phil Foden.

Wait, you ask, isn’t Phil Foden already in the squad? Hasn’t he already played several games for the first team, including starting a crucial Premier League fixture against Spurs back in April?

While all of that is true, Foden is likely to transition from being just a rotation player who starts domestic cup games against lower league competition and comes in as a sub otherwise, to a consistent starter in the team in 2019-20.

How He Played Last Season

Despite being the youngest player in the squad to regularly make the match day 18 last season, Foden made a substantial impact in his limited appearances.

Foden appeared in 23 games last season at the ridiculously young age of 18, a big increase over his age 17 season in 2017-18 when he made ten first-team appearances, almost all of which came as a substitute.

Foden racked up seven goals and two assists across all competitions. That’s a considerable haul when you see that he played just north of 1,100 minutes overall.

Foden never looked out of place in the team when he played. If you weren’t told his age beforehand, it would have been impossible to tell that he wasn’t a seasoned first-team player.