Working with Foden is a joy and a gift, says Guardiola | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola says it’s a joy, pleasure and a gift to have a rejuvenated Phil Foden back to his scintillating best for Manchester City.

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The supremely talented Academy graduate has been in magnificent form for City since the advent of the 2025/26 season.

And the England international provided another shining example of his special qualities in Saturday’s thrilling 3-2 Premier League win at home to Leeds United.

Having fired Guardiola’s troops into a first minute lead, Foden then delivered again in quite dramatic fashion by despatching a priceless 91st minute winner after Leeds had staged a second half fightback from 2-0 down to draw level.

It took the 25-year-old’s overall tally of goals for the season to six.

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But even more significantly for Guardiola, it also served as another timely reminder of the unique qualities that saw Foden win a host of top individual awards two seasons ago.

“This season has been the Phil we met from a long, long time ago,” Pep declared.

“It’s a joy, a pleasure and a gift to have him.

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“The impact of that guy when he arrived for training sessions at just 16 or 17 years of age was: ‘Oh my god, what a player’ and every year he was better and better and better.

“Two years ago, when we won the league against West Ham on the last day of the season, he was the best player of the league.

“Last season he was the same as the team. We had a sad season.

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“But the growth of Phil every season is top for many, many reasons.”

In analysing the myriad qualities that the Stockport-born Foden brings to the side, one facet stands out above all others for Guardiola.

His willingness always to seek to improve and put the needs of the team first.

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“It’s an incredible pleasure to be his manager. He’s always open to improvement,” Pep pointed out.

“And if you say, ‘Phil you have to play there,’ maybe against his potential, maybe right or left, he says: ‘I want to play right or left as I want to help the team.’

“He has the mentality of being positive and saying, ‘I’m going to win the game.’

“When the situation is uncomfortable, some players take a step back, but Phil is completely the opposite. [He says] ‘Give me the ball - I want to score.’

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“That is the difference between [many] players and those at the very top.

“For Phil it is, ‘Give me the ball as I want to score, or dribble and win the games.’

“This ambition and mentality he has had since being a little boy.

“I am so happy to have him to help us and he was the man to win the game on Saturday.”