If there is one player at Manchester City who should be fired up ahead of next season, it should be none other than Phil Foden.
Last season, the midfielder endured a staggering decline, following on from winning the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award in 2024 as he led Pep Guardiola’s men to the Premier League title.
However, at 25 years of age, Phil Foden still has plenty of time left in his career to cement his reputation among the crème de la crème of players across world football.
Manchester City still believe in Foden’s quality and they have every reason to do so considering he has largely been extremely consistent since breaking through into the first-team.
Phil Foden drops comeback hint that is bad news for Liverpool and Arsenal
After Phil Foden scored and assisted in Manchester City’s 2-0 win against Wydad AC, he uttered the words, “new season, new me” while reflecting on his desire to bounce back ahead of the following campaign.
The 25-year-old said via ESPN: “The hunger inside me is back and I want to prove people wrong. It was a difficult season, I’m not going to lie. It was not the best. I got a little bit of time off, rested. Yeah, new start, new me. I’m just looking forward to the season. I’m happy to get back in with the goals, obviously creating chances as well.”
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While Foden’s stock has plummeted, if he does return to his best, Liverpool and Arsenal should be worried as he has previously spearheaded City to the title.
Phil Foden warming up ahead of Manchester City v Wydad AC at the FIFA Club World Cup.
Photo by Carl Recine – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
During the 2024/2025 season, Thierry Henry labelled Foden “world-class” for shouldering the burden of his boyhood club’s title hopes in a campaign where both Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were sidelined through injury for several months.
The Stockport-born attacker is a proven match-winner, amassing an impressive tally of 98 goals and 61 assists in 316 games for City and has the productivity to take his side to another level.
While Liverpool look set to sign Florian Wirtz, who is undoubtedly a brilliant player as well, Foden is far more experienced than the German and in both players’ most productive campaigns, the latter had the edge on him.
TOTAL STATS FLORIAN WIRTZ: 2023/2024 SEASON PHIL FODEN: 2023/2024 SEASON
STARTS 39 48
GOALS 18 27
ASSISTS 20 13
GOAL CONTRIBUTIONS 38 40
As for Arsenal, Martin Odegaard is their bright spark in the middle of the park and even he endured a fall from grace last season and in his standout campaign, the Norwegian registered 22 goal involvements (as compared to Foden’s tally of 40).
Only time will tell which out of the three teams will win the Premier League but a rejuvenated Foden could certainly boost Manchester City’s chances, as he also has the experience of winning six titles.
How Phil Foden has been behaving in training
Foden has been bubbly in training, which should concern Liverpool and Arsenal once again, as the signs suggest that he is ready to lead Manchester City’s Premier League title charge.
Journalist Jack Gaughan revealed: “The signs appear decent, Foden jollier in training, grinning and laughing, larking about more than in recent months and with a renewed intensity as City eased their way into the tournament.”
Now, the onus is on Foden to let his football do the talking and the FIFA Club World Cup offers him the perfect opportunity to start getting in the groove again.