It has been claimed that Phil Foden could end up playing in his natural midfield position during the 2023/2024 season.
This comes from journalist Dean Jones on The Football Terrace, who was breaking down City’s potential ins and outs this summer.
Interestingly, one revelation that emerged is that Phil Foden may be deployed in midfield by Pep Guardiola in the following campaign.
Dean Jones says Phil Foden could play in midfield next season
Branded as an ‘incredible player’ by Jordan Henderson, an interesting aspect of the 23-year-old’s rise so far has been that he has largely played out of position.
Be it on either flank or as a false nine for the entirety of the 2021/2022 season, the treble-winner is yet to have been given a run in the middle of the park, partly due to the presences of greats like David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva over the years.
However, Dean Jones has revealed that Phil Foden could be asked to step into Ilkay Gundogan’s advanced left-sided midfield role next season.
“Phil Foden is likely to have a position change. We’ve already seen him dropping deeper at times. Phil Foden was always expected to be a player that ended up further back and not in that front three line. I think we’ll see that a lot more next season.”
The best version of Phil Foden could now be unleashed
While Phil Foden has been exceptional for Manchester City since his breakthrough, there is a ceiling to his displays as a winger, as his natural position has always been in midfield.
But in the glimpses that we have seen of the five-time Premier League winner in the middle of the park, he has been unplayable.
Phil Foden’s silky dribbling, incredible eye for a pass, elite technical ability and goal threat makes him the perfect player to replace Ilkay Gundogan.
Considering just how gifted Foden is, when played in the position where he finds the most joy in, just imagine the levels we could be witnessing from him.
