Manchester City maestro Kevin de Bruyne has backed teammate Phil Foden to improve significantly despite already playing ‘unbelievably’, suggesting that his future lies in central areas.
Foden has often been used off the wing for club and country, but the 22-year-old already has 180 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side and netted a hat-trick alongside Erling Haaland in their 6-3 thrashing of Manchester United last weekend.
So grateful to have got my first hat-trick for City and in the derby too! Wow – what a feeling!
Manchester is blue 👊🏻🔵 pic.twitter.com/njIx5tQGdj
— Phil Foden (@PhilFoden) October 2, 2022
Nonetheless, the current Young Player of the Year has come under fire in some quarters for poor performances and his place in Gareth Southgate’s starting XI is far from certain.
Now, the Premier League’s best midfielder at present, Kevin De Bruyne, has provided a ringing endorsement of the Englishman, while also backing him to move more centrally in the future.
“He will improve because he’s only 22. I know at 22 I wasn’t the player that I am now,” the Belgian said. “He’s so good so it’s trying to find consistency. He’s been playing unbelievably for us so he will be here for a long time.
“What is he good at? The better question is what is he not good at. He can play in a lot of different positions. I think eventually he will end up playing centrally in my opinion but in this moment in time it is maybe a little bit better for him on the wing to have more freedom and fewer instructions so he flows into the game.
With the futures of Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva both up in the air at present, a spot in central midfield could well open up sooner than anticipated, which could offer Foden the option to redefine his position once more.
