Manchester City set to open contract talks with forward following National Team return | OneFootball

Etihad Stadium officials are due to open talks over a new Manchester City contract with one of their first-team superstars, according to new reports.

The summer transfer window witnessed wholesale changes in Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad in the backdrop of the Catalan’s most challenging year as Manchester City boss, with the Blues finishing third in the Premier League with 71 points, exiting the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage and losing the 2025 FA Cup final to Crystal Palace.

Hugo Viana was appointed as City’s director of football following the departure of long-serving executive Txiki Begiristain, with the former shuffling the squad in his first summer in charge at the Etihad Stadium.

Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Scott Carson, James McAtee, Ederson and Ilkay Gundogan all left Manchester City in the summer, with Jack Grealish, Manuel Akanji, Claudio Echeverri, Vitor Reis amongst the list of names who left on season-long loans.

City made a stuttering start to their 2025-26 Premier League campaign owing to back-to-back losses to Tottenham and Brighton in their opening trio of league games – a run of results that left the Blues languishing in the bottom half of the table.

However, Guardiola’s men have since turned a corner and clawed their way back into the conversation for the Premier League title with 11 wins in their last 14 games in all competitions – with City also close to securing a place in the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

The Blues are not expected to be very active in the January 2026 transfer window amid links with Bournemouth and Ghana forward Antoine Semenyo, whose current deal at the Vitality Stadium is understood to have a £65 million release clause that gets activated in January.

Viana and co will be monitoring the January market for any openings that could bolster Guardiola’s squad for the second half of the season, with Manchester City yet to recall Ballon d’Or winner Rodri back to playing regularly as the 29-year-old battles with recurring fitness struggles.

Moreover, Manchester City bosses could also use the coming months to tie down some of their most important stars, having already brokered new deals for the quartet of Rico Lewis, Ruben Dias, Nico O’Reilly and Savinho since August.

According to the information of Mail Sport’s Jack Gaughan, Manchester City are expected to soon open contract renewal negotiations with Phil Foden, who currently has 18 months left on his existing deal with the club.

Having endured a difficult 12 months with fitness and issues away from football, Foden has returned to his best self since his delayed start to the season in September, when he marked his first start of the 2025-26 campaign with a well-taken header to break the deadlock in Manchester City’s 3-0 Premier League win over Manchester United.

The 25-year-old earned his first England call in 12 months in the recent international break, having scored twice in exquisite fashion in Manchester City’s 4-1 thumping of Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League at the start of the month.