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Phil Foden is back to his best at Manchester City and Pep Guardiola has revealed how the club have helped the academy graduate through his difficult spell.
Pep Guardiola said Phil Foden has responded to the love and affection shown to him by his Manchester City teammates after a week in which he showed signs of getting back to his best.
Foden scored his first Premier League goal in eight months against Manchester United at the weekend and then backed it up with a superb assist for Erling Haaland's 50th Champions League goal in the win against Napoli at the Etihad.
The academy graduate endured a difficult 2024/25, when injuries hampered his form and off-field issues became a distraction, but he looks to have rediscovered the spark in his game at a crucial time for City.
Foden has produced two of his best performances of the calendar year this week, and his dynamism and threat in the final third are proving to be game-changing for a City side that desperately needed what the 25-year-old can deliver.
"You cannot imagine how we miss Phil," said Guardiola. "The last two games have been the Phil that we know. When he played close to Erling in the year we won the fourth Premier League in a row, Phil was the best player in the Premier League. Last season we couldn’t be there and he cannot be here.
"His sense of danger close to the box, he can score one or two goals again. We are so happy because I know he is happy and his joy and his life are fine, the rest is natural. His incredible talent comes along."
Towards the end of last season, Foden spoke of the mental challenges he had faced last term and he often cut a forlorn figure on the pitch.
That is a stark contrast to the player who has zipped around the Etihad turf this week, tormenting the defences of Manchester United and Napoli, and Guardiola said the warm embrace of everyone at the club had played a part in helping 'sensitive' Foden rediscover the love of the game.
"Don’t put pressure on him," he said when asked about the key to helping Foden. "Everybody in our life needs to be loved, but he is special, there are people who are more sensitive.
"He’s a guy who needs to feel and embrace him with his mates, with me, with the club. When this happens, Phil responds like the player that he is."
Jeremy Doku is another player who has had a big week for City. The Belgian set two goals up in the Manchester derby success and then scored a superb individual goal to seal victory against Napoli.
The winger showed quick feet and an explosive turn of pace to burst through the Napoli defence, before slotting a neat finish through the legs of goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
"Jeremy in that position within five metres he is unstoppable," said Guardiola. "Long distance he suffers a lot in his genetics. But in small spaces, the one two, how fast he is, always I encourage him to go and prove it. He makes an incredible finish."
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