CITY Pep to field Foden but not to help Southgate
PEP Guardiola will not speed up Phil Foden’s development to suit England, but feels the teenager is ready to play for club and country.
Gareth Southgate has warned that players will not be selected unless they are getting regular minutes, and the Manchester City youngster’s absence from the most recent squad sparked chatter about his opportunities at the Etihad.
City have been clear about their plan for Foden. The 18-year-old was given enough appearances last season to qualify for a Premier League medal and kept him away from an England youth tournament this summer in order to give him a full pre-season in training.
Despite lots of interest from clubs in a loan deal, the decision was made early to keep him in Manchester for another year and Guardiola considers him part of the first team squad.
However, the Stockport lad has just a cameo off the bench against Huddersfield under his belt so far this season.
Not being asked to step in for the injured Kevin De Bruyne has drawn more speculation over where his opportunities will come from.
City’s manager is not concerned about a lack of minutes, but nor is he bothered about changing his plans in order to fit with what Southgate wants.
“No, no, I don’t feel the pressure about that,” he said.
“I feel the pressure to win the games. We do our best, I do my best.
“I think Phil is ready [for England]. [He’s ready for City because] he’s here. If he wasn’t ready, he wouldn’t be here. He’s ready and after, it’s the same case with Leroy, he can compete with David, with Gundo, with Kevin when he’s fit, with Dinho, with the top players. “If you see the big 10-20 clubs in Europe in all the competitions you don’t see many people playing who are 18-19 years old, maybe one, two, three... but not too many. “He’s special, his work ethic is excellent, he will have a lot of minutes this season and after that Gareth has his own decision.” Pep Guardiola