Manchester City have seen many players leave the club throughout Pep Guardiola’s reign.
Having been at the Etihad Stadium since 2016, Guardiola has used 91 players in total, many of which have left the club to pursue other ventures elsewhere.
One player who joined and then left the Manchester club after a successful spell with the Blues is Gabriel Jesus.
Spending five-and-a-half years in City’s squad, the Brazilian scored 95 goals, delivered 45 assists and won multiple trophies across 236 appearances before joining Arsenal in 2022.
Interestingly, Erling Haaland overtook Jesus’s goal record in the Premier League with City after the Norwegian bagged the winner in last weekend’s 1-0 win over Southampton.
Now in his third season with the Gunners, the four-time Premier League winner has made a claim concerning one of Arsenal’s young talents and how they compare to one of his former City teammates.
Gabriel Jesus urges Ethan Nwaneri to follow Phil Foden blueprint
After seeing Ethan Nwaneri get on the scoresheet in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Preston North End in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, Jesus was asked how the 17-year-old compares to other young players he’s seen in his career such as Phil Foden.
The former City attacker then gave this response to Football.London.
He said: “I have been with some special youngsters, like you say Phil and with Cole [Palmer] as well and also [James] McAtee at City.
“So to see Ethan in training and in the game is good, because I am a fan of football. So when I see someone young with this quality, I am happy.
“I want him to grow, grow, grow and then if he needs something from me, personally, I am here to help him because I am 27.
“I am young, but I have been in this game for a few years. I saw people, I saw people like Phil Foden waiting for his chance and then now, look at Phil. He is one of the best players in the world.
“So, I wish, I really wish, Ethan can keep his toes on the grass, work, and then it’s a question of time for him to shine.”
Foden is one of City’s biggest accomplishments
Emerging from his boyhood club’s youth academy, the 24-year-old has gone on to become a key component in their first-team squad, making 281 appearances in total.
Across those senior games, the Englishman has scored 89 goals and supplied 55 assists.
| Phil Foden | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Premier League | 170 | 54 | 27 |
| Champions League | 55 | 17 | 12 |
| FA Cup | 26 | 12 | 8 |
| Carabao Cup | 23 | 5 | 7 |
With Jesus, Foden featured in 115 matches across all competitions, racking up seven joint goal participations along the way.
Having achieved so much at still a fairly young age, there can be no denying that the development of the 24-year-old has been one of City’s biggest achievements in recent years.
This makes it easy to see why the former City star would like to see Nwaneri reach the levels that Foden has at his club.
