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Phil Foden has played just 15 minutes of football for Manchester City this season
Sixteen months ago, Phil Foden was the toast of the Etihad, capping his breakthrough season with two goals against West Ham to secure Manchester City's fourth successive Premier League title in a year when he was voted the best footballer in England.
It should have been the launchpad for Foden's career to go the stratospheric level that has long seemed his destiny. The academy graduate scored 27 goals and set up 13 more that season and looked ready to inherit Kevin De Bruyne's mantle as the creative heart of Pep Guardiola's team.
Instead, it feels like a lost 16 months as Foden seeks to rediscover that form. With De Bruyne now actually out of the picture, Foden isn't the heir apparent at the moment. After a 2024/25 season where injuries hit hard and off-pitch issues set him back, he has played just 15 minutes so far this term.
In fact, City have played 41 Premier League games since sealing that title against West Ham, and Foden has started less than half of them (20). With goals now an issue beyond Erling Haaland and creativity sometimes in short supply following De Bruyne's departure, City need the 25-year-old to step up.
After missing two of the first three games of this season through fitness issues, he is available to face Manchester United on Sunday, and Guardiola admits that Foden is the player he is looking towards to help get his stumbling team back on track.
"He's the first I'm looking [to] for the spirit, to feel happy and the joy in every training session. He's smiling his face and getting contributions," said the City boss.
"One of the reasons why last season we struggled is because we miss him a lot in the final third, in the creativity, in the work ethic. We’re top with that."
Maybe a Manchester derby will bring the best out of the Stockport-born blue. Aside from the title-winning double against the Hammers, his hat-trick in the 6-3 victory against United in October 2022 is perhaps his next best moment as a City player.
An ankle injury was problematic last season, and Foden gave a heartfelt interview after City's defeat in the FA Cup final, explaining how hard he had fought to get fit and play through the pain while admitting that off-field issues had affected his form.
"It's been a frustrating season for me. I've had a lot of things going on off the pitch mentally," he said. "Sometimes there are things in life that are bigger than football. I've struggled a little bit.
"Hopefully next year I can get my head mentally right and get back to where I left off the season before because I know what I'm capable of doing and the quality I have."
Guardiola isn't rushing Foden back after his injuries last season and challenged the England international to build up a run of games and training sessions to get back to his best levels.
"He’s coming back and after the knock, one week then they stop and after I come back and one other knock," he said. "All the players who come back have to play games and be day by day. That is what we have to try to do. He has to try anyway."
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