Manchester City players are reportedly ‘worried’ about Phil Foden amid his dramatic drop in form this season.
Foden won the PFA Player of the Year last season as he drove Manchester City to the Premier League title with 19 goals and eight assists.
But he struggled to make an impact for England at Euro 2024 and that poor form has continued this season, with the 24-year-old failing to score or assist in the top flight since the 3-1 win over Chelsea in January.
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Pep Guardiola benched him for two of City’s last three Premier League games and he was hooked after 69 minutes in the game he started against Nottingham Forest.
Thomas Tuchel still called Foden up to his first England squad, but wasn’t impressed by his display on the wing against Albania, and has dropped him in favour of Jarrod Bowen for the visit of Latvia on Monday.
And the Daily Mail claim ‘City players are now thought to be privately concerned for their teammate’.
Some members of the squad have noted he has ‘lost some weight amid a difficult season for him personally’ and the report also claims his poor displays may be rooted in his ‘frustration’ over his role for England at the Euros after he was moved to the left wing to allow Jude Bellingham to play centrally.
It’s further added that Foden’s place in Tuchel’s squad is no longer guaranteed as the former Chelsea boss will not take ‘passengers’ to the World Cup.
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Asked about the displays of Foden and fellow winger Marcus Rashford against Albania, Tuchel admitted he wanted to see a more direct approach.
He said: “We hope for more impact in these positions. More dribbling and more aggressive runs towards the box. In general, that was missing. The chances come from the little runs behind the line. They were not as decisive as they can be. It was a little bit too much passing, not enough dribbling, not aggressive enough towards goal.
“Phil is just maybe not finding the momentum at the moment that he can have but both of them are very positive, they have every right to be positive and know exactly what we want from them.”
He added: “For Phil, it’s a difficult season in the club. He comes from several weeks where he does not find the rhythm that he found last season, things are not so easy for him, so we called him up to show him our support and our love and our commitment.”