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Manchester City face Brighton in the Premier League this weekend and Pep Guardiola could unleash Phil Foden from the start.
June 18 in Philadelphia feels like a long time ago now. Was it last season or the start of this season? Who really knows? What we do know is that two months have passed since Manchester City began their Club World Cup campaign, and many of the questions lingering around the club then are still relevant now.
What we thought we knew after that routine win against Wydad AC was that Phil Foden was back on the right track. "New season, fresh me", Foden declared after scoring and assisting against the Moroccans. After a disappointing and difficult 2024/25, it felt a good enough reason as any to hope a corner had been turned.
But things haven't been straightforward for Foden. Having played 59 minutes in that Club World Cup opener, his game time shrank as he failed to start again in America. He got 45 minutes against Al-Ain, 24 minutes against Juventus, and then just 20 against Al-Hilal, used as the sixth and final sub on a chaotic night.
An ankle injury has followed which has restricted his training time. Having been a spectator at Wolves, he played the final 15 minutes against Tottenham but was unable to turn the game around. Now, it is about rediscovering that rhythm.
Having talked so despondently about his season and how he had been feeling during the campaign after the FA Cup final, he seemed more positive in America after a break. The hope is he can rediscover that spark.
If so, he could certainly make a sizeable impact on City's performances, and Guardiola talked in detail last week about Foden, what he had given the club, and what he still could provide.
“Phil, - what can I say?” said Guardiola. “The last Premier League we won, he was massively important and the best Premier League player. In the last game [that season] against West Ham, he scored twice.
“Phil is a top-class and extraordinary player, and I try to convince him he can be better – he can read the situations better, but his joy to play he is unique.
“With Phil, the same applies as it does with Rodri and the consistency we are looking for.
“He had a problem in his ankle, but he’s fine and much better.
“I never would doubt the quality of Phil and what he gives to us, so for him to be happy and play game, game, game and train, train, train [is what we want]… because in 90 minutes he will always give you something special.
“Maybe after the first season he was a 6 or 7 and there was a little drop. If he learned a lesson from that that would be great.
“You can’t always be like you were and he’s been incredibly consistent all these years and this is what we’re looking for.”
Guardiola is looking for consistency across the board as he develops a new team at the Etihad. The guarantees that for so long were taken for granted at this club feel like they are gone.
That has been evident across the last four performances. Two statement performances against Juventus and Wolves and then two dispiriting defeats against Al-Hilal and Tottenham, have made this team difficult to read and predict.
They looked threatening in attack at Molineux but blunt when Spurs held on to a 2-0 lead at the Etihad. With Kevin De Bruyne gone, now is the time for Foden to step up and take the controls. He has the skill, inventiveness and quality to take on that mantle.
A start at Brighton may just come too soon, but Guardiola is still looking for the right dynamic in that side and in that attack. Foden could - and maybe even should - be that man.
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