Manchester City should hold on to Phil Foden amidst Dortmund interest
After Jadon Sancho’s meteoric rise in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund are interested in luring another Manchester City youth graduate Phil Foden to the Westfalenstadion, as per Manchester Evening News.
Jadon Sancho showed the courage and chose the path less travelled by the youngsters in English football as he ventured elsewhere in Europe to take his career to a new level. The 18-year-old has bagged 6 assists and a goal this season for the German outfit and has been rightly rewarded by England manager Gareth Southgate with a senior debut.
Phil Foden has been making a name for himself in the Premier League this season but Pep Guardiola hasn’t given him enough playtime to showcase his talent. After his scintillating performance in the Carabao Cup against Oxford United where he netted his team’s third goal, Manchester City were keen to offer him a new contract. (h/t Daily Mail).
The youngster’s current contract is set to expire in 2020 and his contract situation coupled with his lack of regular minutes have already set the alarm bells ringing at Borussia Dortmund.
Borussia Dortmund have a huge reputation of blooding young talents and the German club have brought the best out of youngsters like Christian Pulisic, Ousmane Dembele and most recently Jadon Sancho by giving them regular first-team action.
The club’s outstanding record in nurturing young talents should be appealing to Phil Foden and a move to Germany is likely to help him flourish. However, Manchester City would not have any intentions of letting him go, particularly because of the fact that he has already made his cut into the senior team.
Granted, Manchester City have one of the strongest squads not only in the Premier League but also across Europe. Although Pep Guardiola has a reputation for fearlessly fielding young players, it is difficult for the youngsters to mount a challenge for a first-team place.
There is a lot of risk involved for the manager as well given that he is likely to be at the receiving end of a lot of criticism if the youngsters fail to perform, particularly when the team is Manchester City- the favourites to win the Premier League.
However, the Citizens should appease Foden by offering him a lucrative deal and giving him some cameos off the bench in some of the Premier League games. In fact, a player of his calibre is good enough to compete for a place in the starting line-up against the mid-table teams.
In other words, Foden has the potential to become the perfect No.10 for City in the coming years and the manager needs to give him controlled exposure to the Premier League after his stellar performances in the Carabao Cup and the Community Shield.
He is a player blessed with a wonderful technique, remarkable vision, sharp reflexes and has a good eye for goal, everything that defines a perfect playmaker. His playing style can be compared to someone like David Silva in his younger days and he is City’s best bet to replace the ageing Spaniard in the coming days.
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Manchester City will have to dish out a whopping £100 million to match Dortmund’s valuation if they are to exercise their buy-back clause on Jadon Sancho. (h/t Manchester Evening News)
Hence, City should do everything in their power to prevent Phil Foden from going down the Jadon Sancho way.
