This is a footballer who since his debut at 17 as a 75th-minute replacement against Feyenoord six years ago has won five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups, the Champions League and the Uefa Super Cup but is still to convince his manager he can be De Bruyne's successor as the next dazzling star in a Guardiola constellation that features Messi (Barca, 2008-12), Gotze (Bayern, 2013-16), and Silva (City, 2016-20).
To see, then, Foden discarded from last season's triumphant FA Cup and Champions League final XIs showed he is yet to persuade Guardiola he can be City's consistent contest-winner.
Guardiola's construction of his stellar teams around a Messi, Gotze, Silva and De Bruyne means the manager's belief in rotation to drive competition and hunger is ignored, with these key players rarely dropped for major games when in peak form. In return he demands that the X-factor footballer produces.
[
add
]
[
|
|
...
]