Speaking on the BBC’s Football Daily podcast, John Murray discussed Manchester City attacking midfielder Phil Foden and his inclusion in Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
Since making his senior Manchester City debut as a 17-year-old back in 2017, Foden has since gone on to make 74 appearances for the club, scoring 15 goals and providing 12 assists along the way.
Last season, the 20-year-old made 23 Premier League appearances – more than he made in either of the other two seasons he has so far appeared in for City – scoring five goals and providing two assists and averaging a WhoScored match rating of 6.86.
He also made five appearances in the Champions League, scoring a further two goals and providing another two assists, averaging an impressive match rating of 6.95.
Now, it would seem, as a result of these impressive performances last term, Gareth Southgate has called the City player up to his next England squad, and speaking on the BBC’s Football Daily podcast, John Murray credited his inclusion to the number of games he played under Pep Guardiola during the 2019/20 season, as well as the fact he has been showing great promise.
He said: “In Phil Foden’s case, I’ve talked to Gareth Southgate a number of times about when it would be that he will eventually get his call to the senior team, and his line on that was quite consistent – that he needed to start more matches and play football more regularly.
“What happened since the resumption [of the football season] for Manchester City was that he started seven of the 14 games that Manchester City played, and played very well in them. Actually, they won all of the matches that [Guardiola] started Phil Foden.
“So, you would think that there’s every chance that he would be given his opportunity, given the upward trajectory that he’s on.”
Do you think Phil Foden deserves his England call up?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
From Murray’s comments, then, it would appear as if the journalist is of the belief that Foden’s inclusion in the England national team is very much down to the number of games he had played for City last season, as well as the influence he had in those games.
If Foden can perform as well as he had done for City last season in an England shirt, then Southgate could have yet another bright young star to consider for future England squads, and perhaps even competitions.