Phil Foden deserves to play a lot more football, admits Pep Guardiola
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Pep Guardiola has apologized to youngster Phil Foden, with the Spaniard admitting that the young midfielder deserves to play a lot more football. The 19-year-old is arguably the best prospect that Manchester City have produced but has played only 10 minutes of Premier League football so far.
Phil Foden may have played only ten minutes of Premier League football, but the youngster’s talent has been on show throughout the season. The 19-year-old is arguably one of the best prospects that Manchester City has produced in a long time. It has even seen Guardiola himself going on to admit that the young starlet is one of the best he has ever seen. However, despite that, the young midfielder has struggled to play first-team football for the Cityzens, warming the bench more than he would like.
But after a superb cameo in the Champions League, which included his first goal of the season, Guardiola went on to apologise to Foden, admitting that there is far too much competition for places at the club. In an interview with Sky Sports, the Spaniard went on to admit, that he believes that the young midfielder deserves a chance and will become an incredible player for the club.
“He deserves to play. I want to give him minutes. Every time I don't play him, I am in front of him saying I'm sorry. But it's Kevin De Bruyne there, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Gundogan, I'm so sorry. I know the best way to grow up is to play minutes, but he's so young. I don't know how many players that age play have played more minutes in the recent past, the minutes he has played the last season with us, but he's going to be an incredible player for us in the future. We trust in him a lot. But it is what it is,” said Guardiola reports Sky Sports.
However, while Foden has struggled to get game-time 22-year-old Raheem Sterling has become a key star for Manchester City especially after Leroy Sane’s injury. The Englishman has been in exceptional form for club and country, and with a goal and an assist off the bench against Dinamo Zagreb now means that Sterling has 19 goals in his last 16 Champions League games at home. Yet despite that and Sterling’s form in the Premier League Pep Guardiola believes that he can still improve even further.
"I said many times, in a few years he will be a better player than today. Raheem is a player when we cross, he's always there. He has this talent, he loves to score goals, he's always there. They defended really well, one against one. He said I think a few days ago about the chances he missed at Everton, but he was never upset, he was thinking about the next one.
“And that's the point I think the feeling I had when we arrived here, he'd play good but the goal he didn't care about. Now the movement is there. But still, he can improve in the last decision,” concluded the Spaniard.
