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Manchester City star Phil Foden faces a battle to secure a spot in both his club and international team ahead of the World Cup with England this summer
He is one of the most decorated players in English football history. He has been a one-club man for all nine of his professional seasons. He is approaching the traditional prime years of a player’s career, as he turns 26 in May. And already he has 47 international appearances under his belt.
But for Phil Foden, winner of six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups and the Champions League, his immediate future at Manchester City and his chances of making Thomas Tuchel’s final World Cup squad are both hanging in the balance.
At his disposal, Tuchel has a wealth of midfield and attacking talent, and this will be a squad where every player handed a seat on the plane will have to earn it. Foden started Friday night's friendly draw with Uruguay, was on the wrong end of a horror tackle by Ronald Araujo and didn't quite grasp his chance in a scrappy encounter.
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Speaking after the game, England boss Thomas Tuchel said of the City man: "We put him into place as we were aware of the midfield three of Uruguay, they change a lot of the positions. In moments, I thought he could be a bit more adventurous and could be a bit more like a number 10 and try a little bit more stuff and take a bit more risk."
But according to former Chelsea, Manchester City and England full-back, Wayne Bridge, it is unthinkable that the sort of game-changing talent Foden possesses would be left to waste at home this summer.
“Foden hasn’t been playing much [at City], and when you look at the squad and players like Savinho coming in and hitting the ground running, it is a bit worrying,” Bridge told 10bet.
“But he’s such a fantastic player. He’s one of those players where, when you watch him live, you just think ‘wow’. There’s something different about him.
“He reminds me a little bit of David Silva. When you watched Silva live you just knew how good he was - the way he moved the ball, the way he manipulated it, the touches he’d take away from players. England need him back playing because he’s such a dangerous, quality player.
“Would I take Foden and [Cole] Palmer to the World Cup? I would - 100 per cent. When I look at Palmer and Foden, they’re two players who, creativity-wise, can do so much for England.
“I’m like the fans. You’re in the pub watching it and saying things like, ‘Oh, we should do this,’ or ‘The manager should do that.’ But Foden is one of those players who can do something special. It’s just about getting the team and the balance right.
“Look at Cole Palmer - he wasn’t starting but he was coming on for the last 20 minutes, changing games and winning games for England. You start to think maybe he should just start.
“But it’s about getting the team right because when I look back to when I was playing, you had Stevie G, Scholesy, Lampard, Becks - they were all starting but maybe not always in the positions they should have been playing.
“It’s about getting the balance of the team right, and that’s down to the manager. But if you can get Phil Foden playing well and Cole Palmer playing well, they’re two massively important players for England.”
Foden’s loss of form and falling out of favour at City this season has seen him have limited game-minutes. That has been matched by an injured Palmer at Chelsea and even Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, who had surgery at the start of the season. However, Bridge feels that could work to England’s advantage come June as they will be fresher.
Bridge said: “I know they’re going through a difficult spell and maybe haven’t played as much, yet we always say before a World Cup that players have played too many games or they’re tired.
“So that might actually work in England’s favour this time. As long as they can get back to playing the way they normally do, it’s totally different from playing in the Premier League when you go into an international setup with a completely new team. And Foden, Palmer and Jude have the mentality and the strength to go out and still produce in big games.”
Wayne Bridge was talking on behalf of 10bet.co.uk/sports
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