Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said that the club won’t sign a replacement for David Silva due to the presence of Phil Foden.
Silva will leave City at the end of this season and will undoubtedly go down as a club legend. The Spaniard has so far amassed 74 goals and 137 assists in 418 appearances across all competitions so far.
Guardiola said that Man City don’t need a replacement when the 34-year-old departs as they already have Foden. As quoted by Sky Sports, the Spanish manager said: “Phil is an incredible player but he still has things to improve. Sometimes it takes time to understand exactly what he has to do, sometimes you have to be patient. But David is going to leave this season and we are not going to buy any player in his position because we have Phil. We trust Phil. If we didn’t believe in him we might go to the market to replace David, but we have Phil.”
Foden is considered to be among the finest young talents in the Premier League and has often received praise from Guardiola. The 19-year-old has made 22 appearances for Manchester City this season so far, scoring thrice and providing five assists.
Foden will have to be content with sporadic starts and substitute appearances for the remainder of 2019/20 because City currently have plenty of options in midfield. However, once Silva departs, the teenager has a good chance of becoming a regular for the club. Provided Foden produces fine performances, he could well receive a call-up to the England national team and who knows, we might see him play in the 2022 World Cup.
