The England international has emerged as the biggest success story of City’s famed Academy to date, having been with the Club since joining us at Under-9 level.
Despite still being only 23, the attacking midfielder has gone on to accumulate five Premier League titles, four League Cups, two FA Cups and a Champions League winners medal as well as earning 25 England caps.
Speaking in the first episode of 3in3: How City’s EDS made history, our new three-part documentary series which launches today, charting the story of our Under-21s’ historic third consecutive Premier League 2 title, Foden reflected on his own magnificent rise through the ranks at the Club.
He revealed how he believed the guidance and coaching from staff throughout the Academy set-up served as the perfect apprenticeship for him as well as City’s phalanx of outstanding young talent which has been amply demonstrated by the success of our Under-21s.
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And he pointed to the example of Cole Palmer and Rico Lewis, who have also made the transition from Academy to City’s first team, as yet more shining examples of the pathway and opportunities that exist for our brightest young prospects.
“I think we have great coaching staff here coaching them in the right way from a very young age,” Foden said.
“And the scouting is really good too. We find the players early on.
“I always dreamed of playing with some of the players I’m playing with now.
“I’ve had a long journey coming through each age group.
“I always just worked hard every day the best I could and thankfully it paid off.
“With Cole (Pamer) and Rico (Lewis) training with us too it’s really good for me seeing the young lads do what I did and to play with them and help them as much as I can it’s so nice.
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“They are great players and hopefully they can continue to work hard and be in the first team.”
For his part, also speaking in the opening episode of 3in3: How City’s EDS made history, EDS head coach Brian Barry-Murphy spoke of the unique privilege of guiding and mentoring City’s aspiring young players.
The Irishman has overseen a magnificent job in his first two seasons in charge of the Elite Development Squad, guiding us to successive titles following on from our maiden PL2 title triumph in 2021.
Reflecting on his job in the documentary, Barry-Murphy said there was a simple overarching priority attached to his and his coaching staff’s roles.
“Our job as coaches is simply to help make the players better,” the EDS head coach asserted.
“You can’t take for granted the opportunity we have been given.
“The calibre of players we are working with is amazing and essentially you are trying to provide some form of support or mentorship to help them go onto the next stage of their career.
“The calibre of players here means you need to support them all the time and push them all the time.
“That means coming up with creative sorts of ways of challenging them and convincing them of the value of being obsessed with being better every day.
“It’s a big privilege and one we continue to be grateful for.”
Episode one of 3in3: How City’s EDS made history - Derby Days is available to watch from 17:00 (UK) on Tuesday, July 18 on CITY+ and Recast.
The remaining two episodes of 3in3: How City’s EDS made history will be released on CITY+ and Recast over the coming weeks.
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A CITY+ subscription costs £4.99GBP per month and includes live streams of selected Women’s and Academy matches throughout the season, as well as full-match replays and exclusive City Studios originals.
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