Manchester City return to Premier League action on Sunday after facing a 2-2 draw against Monaco in their second Champions League match of the 2025/26 campaign.
Following a few hiccups at the beginning of the campaign, Man City head coach Pep Guardiola's squad have hit their stride and are on a six-match undefeated streak across competitions, while ranking seventh in the top flight with 10 points in six matches.
Phil Foden has been one of the notable players in Guardiola's squad who has been back on the pitch, returning to his form. The Englishman had his share of struggles last season, both on and off the pitch, including a recurring ankle injury, registering 13 goals and seven assists in 47 appearances.
Foden netted a total of 27 goals and provided 13 assists in 53 games in the 2023-24 campaign, while also winning the Player of the Season and Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year awards.
Now, the 25-year-old star appears to be getting back his groove, making four goal contributions in seven matches across competition. Despite improvements in form, Foden has been omitted from Thomas Tuchel's 24-man England squad ahead of an international friendly with Wales and a World Cup qualifier against Latvia this month.
While addressing the press following the squad announcement on Friday, the Three Lions head coach explained Foden's omission and told reporters,
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"No, there is no problem between me and Phil Foden. Phil is back to influencing games, deciding games for Manchester City... It's only three weeks now since the last camp and the last win [against Serbia], the last performance, so the question was, why not bring the same group in? Because they set the standards and now it is about creating habits out of it," as per Sports Mole.
Ahead of Man City's upcoming Premier League, Guardiola also shared his take on Foden not being named in England's squad, confidently stating that the club graduate 'will be back' in the national team.
What did Man City boss Pep Guardiola say?
During his pre-match press conference, Guardiola was not critical of Tuchel's decision regarding Foden, mentioning that the German manager knows better and said,
"Thomas knows what he needs for the national team a trillion times better than me. All I can say is that if Phil is still playing like he is playing, he will be back,” as per Manchester Evening News.
"I am happy when players go to the national team but I am happier when they come back healthier. He's the best player we have in small spaces in the final third by far. Last year we missed his goals and assists."
Guardiola & Co. will now face Brentford in their next Premier League clash on October 5 at Gtech Community Stadium.
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