From his first appearance to a maiden hat-trick and everything in between, under the guidance of manager Pep Guardiola, the Stockport midfielder has gone from strength-to-strength.
Pre-season for any footballer is a chance to make yourself known and, in-front of 60,000 fans in Texas, Foden did just that in 2017.
The at-the-time 17-year-old would have been no stranger to a Manchester derby having grown up cheering his beloved City from the terraces, but now was his chance to shine on the biggest of stages.
A performance beyond his years followed with Foden being labelled as a ‘gift’ by his manager, the scoreline would not live long in the memory but City fans had just witnessed something special.
Towards the end of the year, Foden came off the bench to replace legendary midfielder Yaya Touré against Feyenoord, becoming the fourth-youngest English player to make an appearance in the Champions League at 17 years and 177 days.
The young midfield sensation went one better a month later, re-writing the history books once again when he surpassed Josh McEachran to become the youngest English player, at the age of 17 years and 192 days, to start in a UEFA Champions League match.
While City would ultimately fall to defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk, becoming the first player born in the year 2000 to start a match in Europe’s top-level club competition will have provided some form of consolation for the youngster.
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Ten days later, he made his Premier League debut coming off the bench to replace Ilkay Gundogan late in the second half, as City picked up all three points in a 4-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium.
Foden registered his first assist in the top-tier of English football two months later, setting up Sergio Aguero as the Argentine bagged one of his 12 Premier League hat-tricks in a 5-1 victory against Leicester City.
With City 4-0 up and close to securing passage to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second time in the Club’s history, Guardiola rotated his team and in doing so handed Foden a starting spot.
With that, he broke Kieran Richardson’s record – which had stood since 2003 - to become the youngest English player to start in a knockout match, still at least two months before his 18th birthday.
After picking up what would be his first of 11 winners’ medals in a 3-0 Carabao Cup final win against Arsenal towards the end of the 2017/18 campaign, the majestic midfielder added a Premier League crown to his collection.
The youngest-ever player to receive a winners’ medal in the competition, the feat earned him a place in the 2020 edition of the Guinness Book of Records.
Cup competitions started to become a regular sight for Foden, and a 3-0 win over League One side Oxford United in September 2018 saw the youngster net his first senior goal. A drilled left-footed effort in stoppage time at the Kassam Stadium gave home goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell no chance.
As January came and went, Foden celebrated the new year in style by scoring his first goal at the Etihad in a 7-0 hammering of Rotherham United, in the Third Round of the FA Cup.
It was in another demolition job that the local lad scored his first Champions League goal, that coming against FC Schalke 04 which saw him become City’s youngest-ever goal scorer in the competition and the youngest English goal-scorer to score in the knock-out stages, aged 18 years and 288 days.
The rapid rise continued, and towards the end of the 2018/19 season, Foden would go on to secure his first goal in the Premier League in a crucial 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, seeing us return to the top of the table with four games to spare.
As goals go, that was arguably one of his most important in a City shirt.
Foden continued to develop at a rapid rate, becoming a crucial cog in Pep Guardiola’s well-oiled machine.
Numerous personal accolades followed, particularly after a standout 2020/21 campaign.
As well as being nominated for the PFA Player of the Year award, he claimed the Premier League Young Player of the Season and the PFA Young Player of the Year awards for the first time, whilst also being included in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season.
Fast forward to 2022, and one of the midfielder’s most memorable performances.
From being on the wrong side of the scoreline in his first-ever Manchester derby at the age of 17 in a pre-season friendly, to dominating one five years later, Foden’s rise has been one to savour.
Sunday 2 October 2022 is a date that will live long in the memory of City fans around the world but more so for the 22-year-old. A 6-3 win which included a first senior hat-trick followed, with the midfielder describing the match as one of his favourite moments in his career to date.
Already one of City’s best assets, Foden is sure to produce many more memorable displays during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
Committing his future to the Club he loves until the summer of 2027, it’s safe to say, we’ll never be short of entertainment.
