Manchester City appear to be heading for their fifth title under Pep Guardiola and if they do manage to pip Arsenal to the league crown, the Spaniard will become just the second manager in Premier League history to win three consecutive titles after Sir Alex Ferguson’s feat on the other side of the county.
Of course, he has spent vast sums of money to build a City side which is among the finest on the continent, and he will be hoping to rubber seal that by finally winning the Champions League this season, yet his ability to integrate players from the youth system in the first team hasn’t gone unnoticed.
During his years in charge of Barcelona, he unearthed the likes of Pedro, Sergio Busquets, and Gerard Piqué, who all became integral parts of his team that conquered Europe and across his seven years at City, Pep has given chances to the likes of Rico Lewis, Cole Palmer, Eric Garcia and Phil Foden.
And it is the latter which has arguably made the biggest impact on the first team squad, with his value steadily rising.
How much is Phil Foden worth?
The 22-year-old dynamo emerged from the academy, scoring 21 goals across the youth age groups before making his debut for City during the 2017/18 campaign.
It soon became clear that Guardiola had a fantastic talent on his hands and one that could become a standout performer for years to come, for both club and country.
Indeed, England manager Gareth Southgate once lauded him for being “intelligent in his positioning” and “very exciting” and he has so far won 23 caps for the national team, yet it is his impact at club level which has seen his transfer value soar.
Under the Spaniard, Foden has played over 200 times for the club, where he has scored 59 goals and won nine major honours, thus emerging as one of the finest young attacking players on the continent.
According to FBref, the Englishman is currently ranked among the top 10% across Europe’s big five leagues for non-penalty goals, touches in the attacking penalty area, shots on target and goal creating actions per 90, suggesting that Guardiola has created a superstar in the making and the next few years will surely see him develop even further.
FootballTransfers now value the player at a whopping €107.1m (£94m) and this could potentially rise to €133.9m (£117m) if he carries on performing how he has done recently.
The former Barcelona manager has evidently struck gold on Foden and even though selling the homegrown gem could generate the club a major profit, he will surely remain at the Etihad Stadium for the foreseeable future that much is certain.