Phil Foden: The talent with a bright future

Manchester City script a rout against Burnley. They netted five goals and it seems the break of COVID-19 Pandemic did a world of good for Pep Guardiola's side. Whenever they take the field, they go for the kill. They are a ruthless bunch of players, who are interested to respect the opposition, wish to smash like Hulk.

Phil Foden struck the first and second blow and then Riyad Mahrez took over.

But the kid who impressed the most had been Phil Foden.

We have entered the era where the generation of 2000 has arrived to rule the football world. Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo Goes, Reinier Jesus, Billy Gilmour, Kaio Geroge, Yan Couto, Jadon Sanco etc. are all impressing and Phil Foden is the newest addition to the list.

Born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and a boyhood supporter of Manchester City, he joined at the age of eight and signed his Academy scholarship in July 2016. He was privately educated at St Bede's College, with his tuition fees being paid for by Manchester City.

On December 6, 2016, Pep Guardiola included Foden in the squad for the Champions League group stage match with Celtic; he was an unused substitute in the 1–1 draw at home.

In July 2017, Foden was included in Manchester City's squad for the club's pre-season tour of the United States, where he performed impressively in a 0–2 loss to Manchester United and also started in a 4–1 win over Real Madrid.

Guardiola stated after the Manchester United match: “It's a long time since I saw something like this. His performance was another level. He's 17 years old, he's a City player, he grew up in the academy, he loves the club, he's a City fan and for us, he's a gift”.

After making several appearances on the bench at the start of the 2017–18 season, Foden made his Manchester City debut on November 21, 2017, in a Champions League game against Feyenoord, coming on in the 75th minute for Yaya Toure.

He became the fourth-youngest English player to make an appearance in the Champions League (17 years 177 days).

On December 6, 2017, Foden broke the record previously held by Josh McEachran to become the youngest English player, at the age of 17 years and 192 days, to start in a UEFA Champions League match, doing so in a 2–1 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.

He also became the first player born in the year 2000 to start a match in the competition.[14] He made his Premier League debut as a substitute in a 4–1 win against Tottenham Hotspur on December 16, 2017, appearing at the 83rd minute for İlkay Gundogan.

Foden featured as a late substitute for Sergio Aguero in the EFL Cup Final on 25 February 2018, helping City secure a 3–0 victory against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium.

The following month, he broke Kieran Richardson's record to become the youngest English player to start in a knockout-match in the Champions League, doing so at the age of 17 years and 283 days in a 4–0 win over Basel.

On May 13, he became the youngest ever player to receive a Premier League winners' medal.

Guinness World Records recognized him for this feat in the 2020 edition of their book.

Foden was part of the City's starting line-up for the FA Community Shield on 5 August 2018, playing a total of 75 minutes as well as assisting Agüero's first goal of the game in a 2–0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium, marking Foden's third winners' medal of the calendar year.

On September 25, 2018, he provided an assist to Riyad Mahrez and later scored his first senior goal in injury time to secure City a 3–0 away win against Oxford United in the third round of the EFL Cup.

Foden scored his first home goal at the Etihad Stadium, netting the second for City during their 7–0 victory against Rotherham United in the third round of the FA Cup on 6 January 2019.

Three days later, Foden was again on the scoresheet as he helped City defeat Burton Albion 9–0 in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals.

On March 12, 2019, Foden scored his first Champions League goal during the second leg of the last-16 tie against Schalke, as City won 7–0 (10–2 on aggregate).

In doing so, he helped the club equal the record for the largest winning margin in the knockout phase of the competition.

His goal also saw him become Man City's youngest-ever goalscorer in the Champions League and the youngest English goalscorer to score in the knock-out stages of the competition, aged 18 years and 288 days.

At the start of the following month, he made his first league start for the club in a 2–0 win over Cardiff City, becoming the youngest English player to do so since Daniel Sturridge in 2008.

After the match, City manager Pep Guardiola told media that he expected Foden to be an important Manchester City player “for the next decade”.

Foden scored his first Premier League goal on April 20, 2019, with the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. Upon doing so, he became the third-youngest player to score for the club in the Premier League, after Micah Richards and Sturridge.

Before the City adventure, Foden caught the attention with his talent in the age groups tournament – The FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2017. Despite losing the Final to Spain, He won the FIFA U-17 World Cup Golden Ball award in 2017 where he also gained some widespread press attention and significant media coverage. On May 27, 2019, Foden was included in England's 23-man squad for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and scored an impressive goal — his first for the U21s — in the opening 2–1 defeat to France in Cesena.

Even though Foden features in the midfield of City, he could be efficient as a right-winger and also proved his worth as a wing-back as well. But he is more of a midfielder who has enough control over the ball, creates chances, dictates the game, and score goals.

Guardiola described him as “a special player”, saying, “It's dangerous to say good things about young players because they are still young, and they have to grow and they have to learn many, many things... But we have a lot of confidence to help him because we believe he is a guy who has potential, even if he's not strong, he's not tall”.

After an impressive show against Burnley, Pep tagged him as the next City Legend and when someone like says such, you have to understand, the future of this kid, Phil Foden is bright.

Note: This article has been posted in Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 23/06/2020 Phil Foden: The talent with a bright future 

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Faisal Caesar