Pep Guardiola has offered his clearest explanation yet of why Phil Foden is emerging as one of Manchester City’s most important players, insisting the England midfielder possesses a scoring instinct that his wingers have not yet developed.
While praising the qualities of wingers Jeremy Doku, Savinho and Oscar Bobb, the City manager stressed that Foden’s natural feel for goal separates him from the rest of the group and elevates his importance within the team’s attacking structure.
Foden underlined that point once again during City’s dramatic 3–2 win over Leeds on Saturday, a match that threatened to unravel after Guardiola’s side threw away a 2–0 advantage.
It was Foden who had given them an early foothold, finding the net with less than a minute played, and when the contest slipped into chaos late on, it was the 25-year-old who rescued the Sky Blues with a composed stoppage-time finish.
His two goals took him to six for the season—trailing only Erling Haaland within the City squad—and reinforced Guardiola’s belief that the academy graduate must be placed near the penalty area as often as possible.
The upturn in Foden’s output has also been noticed at international level. After being overlooked for England’s previous three camps, he was called to the squad in November.
His return came just as Thomas Tuchel publicly stated he believes Foden’s evolution has taken him away from traditional wing play, describing him as someone no longer best suited to the flanks.
“I don’t see him as a winger at the moment and maybe not any more,” Tuchel said, prompting further debate about where the City midfielder’s long-term future lies.
Guardiola did not hesitate when his opinion was sought following the victory over Leeds.
“I agree with Thomas! I like to play Phil behind the striker, closer to the box,” he said speaking after Leeds United game “The players who have this sense of goal have to be close to the box.”
The Catalan was also careful to explain that this preference does not diminish Foden’s versatility. His ability to play wide, create overloads or shift inside on demand remains a valuable tool in Guardiola’s system.
However, the manager emphasised that Foden is better than Doku, Savinho and Bobb with his scoring instinct. Though, he admitted that the wingers possess different characteristics. What they (wingers) are still lacking, he suggested, is the pure instinct to arrive in scoring positions.
“But, sometimes can be wide and another player more inside,” Guardiola continued.
“But, I like Phil in central positions. But, he can play as a winger, but for me as a winger Savio, Jeremy, Oscar, have [different] attributes. The other three don’t have the sense of goal that [Foden has].”
As Guardiola explained, getting enough goal threats around Haaland has become one of his core concerns this season, especially in matches where City dominate possession but struggle to convert control into chances.
“If we lack the sense of goal a little bit I have to bring players closer to Erling, like Omar is the case in that position,” he said.
“I like players that can arrive and I have the feeling they can score. The big teams many, many players score. If it’s just Erling the guy scoring goals, we will struggle.”
In this context, Foden’s growing reliability in front of goal is becoming more than just an individual milestone—it is an essential ingredient of City’s broader attacking balance.
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Across recent seasons, his ability to float into central pockets, ghost into unmarked spaces and deliver from distance has increasingly made him a problem for opponents, whether he starts wide or down the middle.
Guardiola’s preference for him operating near the striker is a confirmation that Foden is better than Doku, Savinho and Bobb when it comes to scoring goals. He has also made it clear that the player’s flexibility will always be central to his role.
Although Guardiola is firm about where Foden’s long-term potential lies, he reserves equal admiration for the midfielder’s willingness to fill any position the team requires.
For a squad with so much tactical detail and positional discipline, such flexibility is not always straightforward, yet Foden has never pushed back against assignments that don’t necessarily reflect his strengths.
“It’s a joy, a pleasure, it’s a gift to have him and he’s happy in his life,” Guardiola said.
“He has an incredible thing because if you say, ‘Phil, you have to play there’ and it might be against his potential to play right, left, wide. [He will say]: ‘I want to play right, left, I want to help the team, I want to run.’”