Shaun Goater says that he would like to see Pep Guardiola start to use Phil Foden in a central-midfield position more often.
The Manchester club recently suffered an injury blow as Kevin De Bruyne picked up a hamstring issue during the 3-0 win over Burnley, resulting in him now facing four months on the sidelines.
This has since led to the possibility of seeing Foden play a deeper role in the team to fill in for De Bruyne become a topic of discussion.
In fact, one former City star has now weighed in on the matter.
Goater says he prefers Foden in the middle
Speaking in a pre-match live stream on the club’s YouTube channel ahead of City’s Super Cup clash against Sevilla, Goater had this to say when asked which position he likes to see Foden play in.
He said: “Foden is real quality. I do prefer him central because I think what he brings is his ability to drive at teams and he can go right, he can go left and once he breaks lines it just creates so much [danger].
“It’s a difference with, you’ve got De Bruyne who can kill a defence with a splitting pass, I think Foden is somebody that can kill a defence with a dribble.
“I prefer him central but he does an awesome job playing out wide as well.”
Having made the majority of his appearances last season on the left-hand side of the pitch, the Englishman started Wednesday’s European final in a midfield role alongside Mateo Kovacic and Rodri.
Looking back on his performance last night, the 23-year-old had 69 touches of the ball in total and made three key passes, leaving only Rodri (5) making more in the City team.
Looking ahead to the next few months with De Bruyne out injured, we feel it’s likely that Goater will be getting his wish and see Foden featuring in a midfield role from time to time as well as in wide positions given the number of games City will have to play without the Belgian in the team.
