Pep Guardiola makes plea to Phil Foden as Manchester City eye local bragging rights | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given some insight into what he wants to see from Phil Foden as the England forward looks to return to his best.

Foden endured a difficult 2024-25 campaign as Manchester City underwent their most challenging season under Guardiola – finishing third in the Premier League with 71 points, exiting the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage and losing the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace.

After spearheading his boyhood club to a fourth successive Premier League title in 2024, Foden was named the 2023-24 PFA Players’ Player of the Year award as he enjoyed the best season of his career on an individual level.

However, the 25-year-old has admitted to physical and mental struggles taking a toll on him in the last 12 months as he navigates a downturn in form at the Etihad Stadium, where Foden is contracted till 2027.

Since breaking into the Manchester City first-team in 2017, Foden has gone from strength to strength and is regarded as the club’s best academy product, having made the cut under Guardiola when so many youth stars have left Manchester for regular first-team opportunities.

Foden has won six Premier League titles as well as the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup titles at City, having made an astounding start to his professional career during a period wherein the Blues dominated English football under Guardiola.

However, Manchester City are undergoing a crossroads moment in Guardiola’s reign and after a significant revamp of the first-team squad in the summer transfer window that notably witnessed the departure of Kevin De Bruyne, the onus is on Foden to convince Guardiola and the Manchester City board that he is capable of taking over as architect-in-chief.

Guardiola has sympathy with Foden and has been patient with the academy graduate in the last 12 months, wherein injuries and a lack of consistency on the pitch have derailed the England forward from producing his best form.

Having impressed at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States in June, Foden has not started any of Manchester City’s opening three Premier League games this season, with the Blues suffering back-to-back defeats in recent games against Tottenham and Brighton.

Ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby, Guardiola has explained what he wants to see from Foden on a day-to-day basis as Manchester City’s coaching staff try to unlock Foden’s best form as they navigate a sliding doors season at the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking in a press conference on Friday afternoon, Guardiola said: “He (Foden) is the first I’m looking for, desperate to feel happy, in the joy, and in every training session he’s smiling on his face and can contribute.

“That’s one of the reasons why last season we struggled because we missed him (Foden) a lot, in the final third, in the creativity, in the work ethic. He’s top with that.”

Foden came off the bench against Tottenham and was not part of the travelling squad to face Brighton, though Sunday’s Manchester derby could be the perfect chance for the Stockport-born attacker to remind one and all of just how good he can be.

“We have a glimpse of, ‘Oh, he’s coming back’, and after a knock, one week or 10 days he stops, and after he comes back and another knock,” Guardiola added, highlighting that recurring setbacks in fitness have been a stumbling block for Foden.

“And all the players have to, to come back, play games and day by day. That is what we have to try to do. He has to try anyway.”