Gareth Southgate has said that one Manchester City player is a special talent.
During his tenure as manager of the England national team, the 53-year-old has watched his fair share of Premier League games and coached numerous top-flight players along the way.
Now though, the England manager has highlighted one Premier League player he knows particularly well for some heavy praise based on what he’s done on the pitch this season.
Southgate wowed by Phil Foden
Speaking at the recent Football Writers’ Association award ceremony (via Henry Winter), Southgate had this to say about Phil Foden, starting with the first time he ever saw the midfielder.
He said: “It was an Under-16 camp at St George’s Park. When you get a special player you get a reverberation around the place. Everyone said, ‘Have you seen Phil?!’
“I really see the same player now (as then), the fluidity, the twists and turns, the gliding movements. Then they told me he was 14!
“He’s continued to have that hunger, working with brilliant players every day, and with Pep [Guardiola] and an incredible coaching team.
“Phil loves football. He loves to be with the ball. We have to drag him off the training pitch usually with [Jack] Grealish! Phil’s a special player. He’s going to be a star for years to come. We are lucky to have him.”
Foden has shown his class this season
In 51 games this season across all competitions, the 23-year-old has scored 25 goals and delivered 11 assists, which is 13 more goal contributions than he was able to deliver in 48 games last season.
Having been named the FWA Men’s Player of the Year and nominated for the Premier League and City’s Player of the Season awards, this makes it easy to see why Southgate has been so impressed with him.
Having already made 33 appearances for England under Southgate, across which he’s scored four goals and supplied eight assists, it seems likely that Foden will be included in the squad for the upcoming European Championship in Germany this summer.
