“Human beings come first!” – Pep Guardiola lauds Phil Foden recovery following mental health struggles | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has publicly showcased his admiration for the human side of Phil Foden following the Englishman’s recovery from recent mental health struggles.

The 25-year-old has showcased his determination to find the form that brought him so much success across a succession of campaigns in recent times, culminating in his Player of the Year awards off the back of the 2024/25 season.

Having largely inspired the club to a record-breaking fourth consecutive English top-flight title – a feat never achieved by any other club to date – Foden’s individual campaign was recognised by both the PFA and Premier League.

Those heights also followed Manchester City’s greatest-ever season and arguably one of the very best seen in English football, as Pep Guardiola guided his players to a staggering Treble success featuring their maiden UEFA Champions League crown.

But amid a whole host of other difficulties and injury problems hampering the entire squad during the last season, Foden was predominantly absent from proceedings with many wondering what had gone wrong to lead to such a steep drop-off in performance levels and overall standards.

Since then, it has transpired that alongside his own personal fitness issues, Phil Foden had also been struggling with mental health problems away from the pitch, as such sparking a request to be excluded from England’s national team camp at the time.

Now, speaking ahead of Manchester City’s return to Premier League action this weekend, manager Pep Guardiola has been quizzed on the importance of the club’s patience shown towards Foden in order to ensure the midfielder was right both physically and mentally.

“How strong he is in admitting that, right? A figure like Phil can be open-minded and speak, like today in the young teenagers and even old people has struggled with that. Nobody is away from that, everyone can be that. And accepting the reality, that’s WOW! That’s fantastic,” said Guardiola.

“That’s why when I see him now, and forgetting about performing at the level he’s performing because it’s a top level; his joy in training sessions, his laugh, his vocal voice in the locker room, being back – it’s enough. It’s just what we want. The rest? We will help him to play as best as possible because the quality is being there, being healthy, you know,” the Catalan continued.

“At the end, it’s sport, it’s win, lose, draw and the important thing is being a human being, being healthy, with his family and himself, and doing what you want to do. That is what we want, and I’m happy that step by step he’s top now.

“That’s why now, look at the games, and being involved in many, many things.”

Speaking more specifically on Foden’s handling of his mental health difficulties, Guardiola was further asked regarding the importance of the midfielder speaking out on his struggles with those close to him and those in positions of professional care at the Etihad Stadium.

“It’s everything! Only we know is that last season always we were there [for] Phil. Always we are there. The club, in that, is beyond exceptional. We have incredible human people, helping, helping, helping,” explained Guardiola.

“I never, never when one person suffered a little bit in this type of period in their life, like this too shall pass, always life in good moments and bad moments, always it’s the next chapter, it’s really, really good to feel that… Always we let them feel that we are there, unconditionally and whatever happens, I don’t care about your performance, it’s what you feel in that way.”

The 54-year-old added, “Human beings come first. In front of everything in life. And we try to take care of people in that way. I’m happy that… Everybody knows, the level that he played last season and playing this season, it’s another situation. And even in that moment, playing a bad game, of course everyone can do that! What is important is that he feels good.”

Fast forward to the present, and Foden is back at the very centre of Manchester City’s creative and attacking output, adopting a number 10 role following Kevin De Bruyne’s departure for Napoli in the summer and Rayan Cherki’s extended absence through a hamstring injury of late.

Offering urgency in Manchester City’s collective press, sharpness on the ball, intensity in driving phases of play forward, much of Guardiola’s success so far this season can be credited to Foden, alongside the obvious goalscoring exploits of Erling Haaland.

It does remain to be seen how the City head coach handles Cherki’s return alongside Phil Foden’s impressive form, with the France international returning to training ground action earlier this week but seeing his return to competitive duties carefully managed by coaching staff.