Laura Woods has revealed that Rio Ferdinand and Joleon Lescott were comparing Phil Foden to a legendary midfielder against Aston Villa.
Such was the genius that Phil Foden exhibited against Aston Villa as he put in the type of performance that Kevin De Bruyne would have been proud of.
The Belgian international was benched during his side’s 4-1 victory against Villa, which allowed Foden to play as a number 10.
Much like almost every time the treble-winner has played in midfield, he has produced numbers, scoring a hat-trick and almost getting the pre-assist for Rodri’s opening goal.
Speaking of the Spanish midfielder,he also pinpointed how Foden continues to grow as a player year after year.
Phil Foden certainly showcased that, reaching 14 goals in the Premier League, beating his career-best of 11 on Wednesday night.
All eyes were on Foden to see how he would fare when given the reins as an attacking midfielder in De Bruyne’s absence.
Laura Woods says Rio Ferdinand and Joleon Lescott compared Phil Foden to midfield icon
Considering how important a game it was for City against Villa, it was a shock to see the midfield maestro benched in the first place.
Not just Kevin De Bruyne but Erling Haaland as well, in fairness, who was replaced by Julian Alvarez.
However, one wonders why there were any doubts about how Foden would perform in De Bruyne’s absence against Emery’s side, considering he has thrived in the Manchester City vice-captain’s absence this season.
As much praise as the Englishman receives, in a sense, his exploits should not come as a surprise at this point.
However, with the style Foden exhibits in his game, it is difficult not to be in awe of him, especially when he plays how he did against Villa.
While interviewing Phil Foden for TNT Sports after Manchester City demolished Aston Villa 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium, Laura Woods revealed that Rio Ferdinand and Joleon Lescott compared him to Andres Iniesta.
“Phil [Foden], every time you got the ball, these two were screaming [Andres] Iniesta every time you got the ball, it was very embarrassing sitting next to them”, she told the £225,000-a-week man.
Phil Foden would likely have been flattered when Laura Woods made this revelation about Joleon Lescott and Rio Ferdinand likening him to Andres Iniesta.
After all, Ferdinand and Lescott have witnessed their respective United and City teams get dominated by the Spaniard.
As a result, for the punditry pair to make such a claim about Foden shows how unreal he was against Villa.
Phil Foden looked like Andres Iniesta at times against Aston Villa
In some ways, Laura Woods’ revelation is a bit of an eye-opener as in our view, the Andres Iniesta comparison with Phil Foden was a good one from Rio Ferdinand and Joleon Lescott, in our view.
Of course, Foden is not on the level of Iniesta, who has an argument for being the greatest midfielder in the history of the game.
But every time the Stockport-born attacker was carrying the ball, he did look like the Barcelona legend when he used to dance past his opponents.
Similarly, in tight spaces, the way Foden escaped pressure was similar to how Iniesta used to.
In these respects, the comparison was an apt one from Ferdinand and Lescott based on Foden’s display against Villa.