'Cannot be missed' - Phil Foden given clear Pep Guardiola target at Man City

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola knows what Phil Foden should be doing this summer after a mixed season

Pep Guardiola has urged Phil Foden to do as much as possible with Manchester City in the next six weeks to book his place at the World Cup this summer. The England midfielder is facing a fight to be selected in Thomas Tuchel's squad after another few disappointing outings in the latest international break.

Foden looked to have returned to the peak of his powers earlier this season, becoming a key part of a Guardiola team that was pushing for honours in all four competitions. However, his form has disappeared in 2026 and he has barely started in recent months with other players in the team preferred.

Given Foden spoke honestly last year about the physical and mental burnout that he struggled with, some think that the 25-year-old being left out of the squad for the World Cup could help him to reset and be ready for next season. However, Guardiola urged him to reject those thoughts and make sure he does everything possible with City before the end of the season to make sure he doesn't miss out on a rare opportunity.

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"I'm pretty sure he would love to go with England," he said. "These opportunities cannot be missed. If you have an opportunity, play as good as possible to be selected because it's only one every four years. You have to.

"He’s 25 and still growing as a football player. But always we want in a hurry. Now in a friendly game, with the national team they lose a game and ‘Oh, it’s a disaster.’ In the pre –season, you lose a game – ‘Oh the manager could get the sack.’

"Today the world of football is like that and it’s a shame. But sometimes you do have to react, you have to be stronger. It is up to him, as quickly as possible he has to realise ‘I have to do better’, go to the simplicity. But we come back to the talent and the talent is there."

Many of the players who have brought such success to City in the last decade have now moved on, and there has been considerable change over the last 18 months. That is why the club were so delighted to beat Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final last month, with the trophy the first for many in the squad.

Foden was expected to be one of the leaders of the new team, as a 25-year-old academy product who has won everything there is to win, but has instead lost his place to new signings with a point to prove. Guardiola is sympathetic for the drop from Foden but is waiting for him to rise again.

"I think the worst season from Phil was the last one. But this one until November was really good - sometimes for a different way to play. At the end the player has to compete with his team-mates and the team-mates bring a challenge to you. When you bring in new players from outside and change new players there are moments they are better and you have to do it," he said.

"Cherki has been amazing. Phil plays in more or less that position and has to challenge with Rayan. There’s the Wayne Rooneys and this type of player who have been 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 years all the time incredible over an 11 month season. Maybe one season or half a season there was a little bit of a drop, it’s normal - except maybe Messi and Cristiano. That’s unbelievable and why they are another stature because for 14, 15 years every single season 40 or 50 goals. The rest, sometimes it happens.

"They don’t have to be worried but they have to take it as a challenge. ‘Okay I’m not where I was [hits fist on desk], what do I have to do? I am who I am. It’s not like I was a disaster player who came from the academy’. He has proven - how many titles does Phil have? All the titles we have won Phil was there and he’s been important in that. It’s not like he was a residual player who sometimes played. It was completely the opposite.

"But it happens, okay, I have to challenge with my team-mates who came from abroad and want to prove themselves in the Premier League and make a name for themselves. For these seven successive FA Cup semi finals did we play with the same squad and all the time the same players? No, David Silva is not here any more or Vinny or Pablo or players who helped us to reach these levels. And this is how it has to be."