Phil Foden has arguably been Man City’s most disappointing player this season. But Pep Guardiola may have a plan that could get him back to his best.
Phil Foden was one of the Premier League’s best players last season, if not the Premier League’s best player winning the PFA Player’s Player of the Year and Premier League Player of the Season awards.
But the story for him and Manchester City this time round is different. Man City are slumped in 6th place of the Premier League table and Foden has been a weak link in the side throughout, with just seven goals in 25 league games compared to 19 in 35 last season.
Man City fans have been critical of Foden. The 24-year-old has also faced criticism on the international stage too with fans blasting Foden’s performance against Alania during the March international break.
But there could be brighter times on the horizon for Foden and Man City who are set to undergo an overhaul in the summer.
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Phil Foden could be Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne heir
Last week, Kevin De Bruyne announced hi Man City departure ahead of the summer. He’ll leave when his contract expires in June, unless he’s kept around for the Club World Cup, and Pep and incoming director of football Hugo Viana will face a real challenge in finding someone to replace De Bruyne’s influence in the side.
Morgan Gibbs-White has been mentioned alongside Man City although fans don’t seem sold on the Nottingham Forest man. Florian Wirtz is also a target but he could cost Man City upwards of £100million. Now, an emerging report from The Athletic has claimed Man City could replace De Bruyne internally.
Their report writes that it is ‘still to be decided’ whether Man City sign a replacement for De Bruyne ‘or use existing personnel like Phil Foden’, adding that ‘internal and external solutions are set to be explored’ by Pep and Viana ahead of the summer.
The real reason why Phil Foden has been poor for Man City this season
It’s not just Foden, but Man City as a whole have been subpar this season, and the time is absolutely right for Pep to make some sweeping changes to the team and bring in some fresher legs.
And that might be really beneficial for Foden too who’ll simply want to put this season behind him, starting afresh with Man City in the summer and being one of the building blocks for Pep to mould his new XI around.
Earlier in the year, it was claimed that Foden has had an ongoing injury problem throughout the season which has meant he’s not been as prolific as last season. Per the same report, the Englishman has also been suffering from a degree of mental fatigue during such a tough campaign.
A much needed break in the summer could do him a world of good. And being tasked with replacing De Bruyne could be the challenge he needs to get back to his best.
