Phil Foden: Is Manchester City midfielder 'the best in the Premier League right now'?

You don't graduate from the Youth Academy of Man City post takeover and rake up more than 250+ appearances and become an important part of a monster side built by Pep over the years. By pouting millions of pounds into building a star studded squad and still you end up being the star of the team, then you are definitely in the conversation of being among the best midfielders at the moment . 

He surely is not the perfect all round midfielder as his role and upbringing has not been of an all action powerful box to box midfielder like Yaya Toure but is more along the lines of David Silva who is a technical midfielder who could play anywhere across the front line and also deeper as an Attacking midfielder. 

Plaudits should also been given to him for getting 30 Caps mostly under Gareth Southgate who is a manager as defensive  as it gets and thus it's a compliment to Foden that he has been able to carve out a consistent spot for himself at only 20 and doesn't look like he will stop anytime soon. 

His Hattricks against Manchester United have already cemented his position as the best midfielder ever in the eyes of The Cityzens as that has given them enough bragging rights to banter the Red Devils supporters for days. 

Being a consistent 20+ goal contributions for the last 4 seasons and being only 23 at the moment, the only way here for Foden is up and his ceiling is very high already being featured in conversations  of being among the very best in his positions both by fans and pundits alike. If everything goes as planned he may as well be included in the conversation of GOAT midfielders. He definitely deserves a shout for the best U-23 vide midfielder in the Premier League. 

And by virtue of being part of the unstoppable  monster team Pep has built over the years he has possibly one of the most decorated CVs for a 23 year old which some would happily die to have that sort of CV by the end of their career. It's not that he has been mollycoddled into the first team, instead he had been sheltered, protected and made to bide his time, fine tune his craft and learn Pep's way even when they were clamours to either start him or loan him out. The mental resilience deal with challenges and IQ he has shown is nothing short of remarkable especially in an age dominated by Social Media. 

 

Also, in terms of playstyle he is one of the best in both Pep' possession based style of play and on the other hand also adds a dose of direct raw style of play. With his blistering speed and his ability to take on players 1v1 and beat them with scintillating skills which many of you must be accustomed to by now by virtue of them featuring in highlights packages and youtube compilations ever so often. But he also has the IQ to get into good spaces and run into empty areas to create chaos and help his teammates destabilize the opposition defense which shows he is also capable of being both a team player as well as a one mam show. 

With 0.87 G+A as per transfermarkt, he is definitely Manchester City' s best player in the Premier League arguably tied alongside Haaland and De Bruyne. But drawing any conclusions and warding a clear cut winner is a futile exercise as Phill Foden himself hasn't reached his peak yet but maybe this topic can be revisited if this carries on for at least 2-3 more years and his career doesn't end up facing any unexpected major setbacks, injuries or otherwise. For now, he is not "The Best",  but is among "The Best". 

Cover Credits - Opta Analyst