Jermain Defoe has said that Phil Foden will improve if he plays regularly in midfield for Manchester City.
The Englishman played in midfield for City’s two previous games, the Super Cup win over Sevilla on penalties and their recent 1-0 win against Newcastle United in the Premier League.
After providing the assist for City’s winning goal against the Magpies on Saturday, Foden has found himself on the end of some heavy praise from one former Premier League star who knows a thing or two about scoring goals.
Defoe hails Foden
Speaking in a recent edition of The Weekend Wrap by Premier League Productions, Defoe had this to say about Foden.
He said: “I thought Phil Foden was unbelievable, I just love watching him. He’s one of those players where after a game he’ll have a kick around with his mates on the street. What a player, what a talent.
MORE MAN CITY STORIES
“I think he needs a run of games, obviously because he’s still young, he’s won all those trophies and got a lot to prove because he would have been frustrated in terms of last season, and obviously with England as well, he wants to get in the England team and I just think if he plays in that position and gets a run of games he could score a lot more goals.”
Last season saw the Englishman score 15 goals and deliver eight assists in all competitions, featuring in a variety of different midfield and attacking positions.
While the majority of Foden’s 15 goals last season came from him playing in wide positions, he was able to score two goals and deliver two assists across the eight appearances he made in the central-midfield and attacking-midfield roles.
With the space now ahead of him free to play regularly in a midfield role due to Kevin De Bruyne’s hamstring injury blow, this could give him the consistent starts that Defoe mentioned that he may need to announce himself as one of City’s most important players in the team.
Moving forward, if Foden can start scoring goals on a regular basis, he’ll undoubtedly get rid of any concerns there may have been around the club regarding De Bruyne’s absence.