It’s easy to forget City’s most successful Academy graduate is only 24 years old.
Following the conclusion of the most recent campaign, Foden added a 17th trophy to his list of honours which includes six Premier League titles since he made his senior debut seven years prior.
Relied upon more over the past nine months than any other season, Foden has hit his ascendancy with his eye for superb goals, relentless off-the-ball movement and jaw-dropping touch. The England international is the entire package.
And, he’s also had the biggest impact in moments where City needed it the most, making him one of – if not the most – important player in Pep Guardiola’s squad as we went on to claim a historic fourth successive Premier League title.
Foden has now made 270 appearances for the Club and in every match minute, he has shown exciting development in his game grabbing the opportunity to learn from some of the best players in the world whilst playing alongside them.
And the 2023/24 campaign saw him total his highest number of games and minutes. 53 appearances – 48 of which he started – and in those he totalled 27 goals and 12 assists.
Foden’s versatility was tested more in the most recent season with fans seeing him deployed on the left and right wing as well as a more central role in the heart of midfield, the position Foden himself has said he prefers the most as it allows him to be his most creative and impactful.
And his stats reflect that to the max. Only Jeremy Doku completed more dribbles than Foden’s 69, with the Belgium charging through opposing defensive lines with 132 dribbles.
Foden was our most-fouled player with 82 and his 162 total shots was only bettered than none other than Erling Haaland who attempted 179.
It didn’t take long for the Etihad Player of the Season to get off the mark. He assisted Julian Alvarez in City’s 1-0 win over Newcastle in our second league game of the campaign.
It came just after Foden played in the entirety of our UEFA Super Cup penalty shoot-out win over Sevilla.
Foden then scored his first goal of the 2023/24 season in our 2-0 win against Nottingham Forest.
As the end of the calendar year approached, the 24-year-old added another trophy to his cabinet. He played in our 3-0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds in the semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup.
He then went on to score in our 4-0 triumph over Fluminense in the final to see City lift the trophy for the first time in the Club’s history.
Despite our heartbreaking exit in the Champions League, Foden scored in five out of seven games he featured in, proving himself on the biggest of stages and against the most difficult opponents. Foden scored his spot kick in the penalty shoot-out against Real Madrid but it wasn’t meant to be as we were dismissed in the quarter-finals to the eventual winners.
But that didn’t deter Foden who kept on setting up goals and knocking them in. Vital goals against Bournemouth, a brace against United, a hat-trick against Aston Villa topped off with two goals against Brighton saw Foden notch 50 Premier League goals in his career to date.
And it was clear his performance in our triumph over Villa was one of his favourites as he deemed it to be one of the most controlled performances of the year by the team.
Foden played the ball out wide to Doku who set up Rodrigo for the first of the evening before Jhon Duran pulled one back for Unai Emery’s side.
Foden won a foul on the edge of the Villa box and he dispatched the free-kick beautifully to regain City’s lead before the break. A first-time finish on the edge of the box gave us a two-goal lead.
Then, to top off a fantastic evening at the Etihad, Foden regained possession 20 yards from the Villa goal and, while slipping, Foden curled the ball into the top right corner to complete his trio of strikes. Arguably his best ever performance in blue.
And just before the season came to a close and City looked set to win a fourth successive Premier League title, Foden was named the Premier League Player of the Season and the FWA Men’s Footballer of the Year, worthy acknowledgments for his contribution as we went on to make history.
What a season Philip Walter Foden has had!
2023/24 STATS
Matches: 53
Starts: 48
Minutes: 4,274
Goals: 27
Assists: 12
IN HIS OWN WORDS
“I believe it’s been my best season.
“I think I’ve helped the team in important games by scoring important goals and I’m happy with how the season has gone. I want to say thank you, I couldn’t do it without my team-mates.
“I’m really happy with the season I’ve had and I want to continue now putting in performances like I’ve been doing.”
PEP ON FODEN
“To become world class you have to win games. He lives to play football. He has always scored goals and now he is winning games. When I arrived he was 17 and he had it. He loves it. He understands definitely what he has to do – before he was not really good, so he understands the games better now.
“The most important thing, when he got the ball close to the box, everyone got the feeling that something is going to happen.
“The feeling he is aggressive to score, that’s why he is becoming a really important player for us and the national team.”
ADMIRATION FROM A CITY LEGEND
Sergio Aguero, a City great, was full of praise for Foden in a recent interview.
“Without a doubt Phil Foden is my favourite player,” said the Argentine. “He is the player who, when I saw home come to the first team for the first time, I saw his quality, his talent and his liveliness at such a young age.
“I think that at 16 he has improved a little with the team and he did things as a kid that made it clear that in the Premier League he could do very well.
“One time Pep Guardiola asked me who was the player [in the Academy] at City that I believed in. I would like to meet him again and play because I think he has a huge future at City and I believe that today he is the most complete player that City has.”
