Revealed: What Manchester City are thinking about Phil Foden ahead of the new season | OneFootball

The internal view within Manchester City concerning Phil Foden ahead of next season, and off the back of a hugely disappointing campaign, has now been revealed.

Off the back of a remarkable season both individually and collectively, expectations of Phil Foden coming into the still-ongoing campaign could not have been any higher, with a belief that now the England international was taking on huge responsibilities for the club.

However, following a slow start in light of a difficult summer with Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions at the European Championships, Foden found himself struggling immensely for form, standard of performance, and consistency in Pep Guardiola’s City line-ups.

Featuring more and more on the bench, whilst also battling a number of fitness and injury problems, Manchester City progressed into the season without too much in the way of contribution from the Premier League’s 2023/24 Player of the Season.

But with Kevin De Bruyne leaving the club after 10 stellar years next month and a number of significant departures and arrivals to be made by recruitment staff, the upcoming campaign appears to be a crucial one for Foden from an individual perspective.

According to a new report from The Times, there is hope internally at Manchester City that Phil Foden will bounce back from his tough season and start performing near his best again next season.

From the perspective of the club’s head coach, it is also revealed that manager Pep Guardiola remains a big fan of the 24-year-old England international, despite the personal struggles seen by last season’s FWA Footballer of the Year.

Manchester City recently withdrew their interest in Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz amid concerns over the rising costs of a potential deal for the Germany international this summer, despite the 22-year-old identified as the number one target to replace Kevin De Bruyne.

While there is a belief that City bosses will continue in their search to bring in a new creative midfielder in the coming months, others are pointing out the possibility of one of Guardiola’s existing stars taking on the creative responsibility.

One of those members of the squad will no doubt be Phil Foden, although there are significant strides to be made over the course of the summer to persuade key officials that he is the right man for such a task.

Following the final game of this season’s Premier League, Manchester City’s stars will largely head out on international duty during a short break from club duties, before reconvening at the City Football Academy to begin their journey to the FIFA Club World Cup in the US.