Phil Foden: Searching for the smile behind the decorated Manchester City and England star | OneFootball

Fourteen months on from Manchester City’s historic treble-winning season, Phil Foden was eyeing even more success after engineering an accolade of his own.

A PFA Players’ Player of the Year award separated the attacker from the rest of the Premier League’s most decorated players in August 2024 – having contributed to 40 goals from 53 games across all competitions as City won a record fourth successive league title.

“To win this award is something very special and it is one that I am very proud of and grateful for,” Foden said. “To be recognised this way by your fellow professionals means everything and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me.

“Last season was another very special one for everyone at the club but now all our focus is concentrated on trying to achieve more success this term.”

Foden, as it turned out, was accompanied by his former City teammate Cole Palmer, who won the PFA Young Player of the Year to mark the first time where two Englishmen have won the trophies on the same night since the 2009-10 season.

Not only that, Foden also became the youngest player to have won six titles in a calendar year as a result of City’s 2023 treble – the first of any English side since Manchester United completed the feat under Sir Alex Ferguson in 1999.

Foden played 54 minutes of the 2023 UEFA Champions League final in Istanbul against Inter, where Rodri’s winner sealed history and drew tears from millions of Manchester City fans around the world – and for Foden, it appeared to be another chapter in this remarkable career that continues to exceed expectations.

“Phil is incredible,” said Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola in December 2025 after a 3-0 win over Sunderland. “He is scoring a lot of goals. He came to me after the game and said he didn’t feel well today and look what happened now, he runs in behind (and) regains the ball. When he is in this momentum and this mood, he is a gift and a diamond.”

Up until his senior debut at 17 years of age under Guardiola, Foden amassed over 30 goal contributions in 42 games across the youth pyramid and after appearing only 10 times for the first team in the 2017-18 campaign, he barged through the ranks and found plenty more minutes with 26 appearances in the following campaign.

By the 2020-21 season, the now 25-year-old had played 50 matches in all competitions and began building a real name for himself in senior football. At present, he has won 18 major trophies – including a recent Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal at Wembley Stadium.

Looking back, however, it was never all fruitful. In fact, it was the complete opposite. Such a significant player with an influence to match, Foden hit a wall last season and only scored 10 goals in 45 games.

And despite the fact these numbers would show promise to the majority of players in English football, for his standards, it was more alarming than comforting.

Around 10 months ago, Foden said: “I just need a few weeks off without playing football and obviously I can’t get it at the moment,” in an interview the Daily Mail. “It’s a difficult situation for me with the internationals right around the corner.

“It’s something we have to speak with the club and (England) National Team to see, maybe if it’s better to rest and get my ankle fully 100 percent to back how I want it. I just don’t know at the moment, it’s a conversation to be had and we’ll see what happens.

“The ankle has taken time to heal. I somehow managed to play on at (Manchester) United. That’s the kind of person I am, I try to play on with anything. I remember how much pain I felt when the adrenaline died down.

“A lot of people don’t know what football players have to go through and play with. I’ve had a lot of pain and playing with it in the last couple of months. Maybe I came back too early. But it’s what I like. I’m feeling a lot better now and can really push on with it.

“It’s been a frustrating season for me. I’ve had a lot of things going on off the pitch mentally. Sometimes there are things in life that are bigger than football. I’ve struggled a little bit. Hopefully next year I can get my head mentally right and get back to where I left off the season before because I know what I’m capable of doing and the quality I have.”

Despite the buzz of a new England manager in Thomas Tuchel, Foden asked to be left out of the squad for friendlies in 2025 to regain mental and physical strength – and has since hit the ground running again.

The signings of Rayan Cherki, Antoine Semenyo and Tijjani Reijnders haven’t helped his case of picking up more minutes, but he has still put in remarkable performances against Fulham and Leeds United in the Premier League, while catching the eye versus Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League.

In that 2-0 win against Dortmund at the Etihad Stadium, Foden scored twice to help City climb up the group-phase standings. “I’m loving it,” he told TNT Sports. “I just need to play with a smile on my face, which I’m doing.

“Last year was tough, not just for myself but for everyone. There is a new togetherness this season and you can tell. You learn a lot from it when you go through a tough patch. We have great captains in our team and we speak about how we can get back on track.

“And we’ve added great players to the squad as well and that’s brought real hunger and togetherness. It’s just about trying to be the team we used to be and this season we are seeing glimpses of that.”

This season, Foden has totalled 15 goal contributions and is still working his way to consistent minutes but what’s important is that he’s doing so with a smile on his face. And as Guardiola said: “Phil is back!”