Phil Foden must leave Man City this summer as two perfect transfer options revealed

Apr 3, 2026 - 09:45

Phil Foden has been urged to leave Manchester City this summer for the betterment of his club and international career.

The 25-year-old is currently in the midst of his first career pitfall having fallen out of favour under Pep Guardiola.

Phil Foden for England. — Foden failed to impress for England in his final audition before Thomas Tuchel’s squad selection in May

A loss of form at club level has also impacted his international chances with Foden’s chances of going to this summer’s World Cup far from certain.

Given the chance to stake a claim for Thomas Tuchel’s squad in last month’s friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, Foden was unimpressive despite being handed starts in both matches, in a No. 10 role and as a false nine.

His current standing is a long way from his brilliant 2023/24 campaign when he was crowned the PFA Player of the Year.

Plot your exit

With Foden currently in a rut, talkSPORT’s Angelina Kelly believes the only way for him to solve his current club and country conundrum is to find a way out of Manchester City.

Speaking on talkSPORT’s Fiery Fridays podcast, Kelly said: “My hot take is that Phil Foden should leave Manchester City in the summer.

“He shouldn’t be in the England squad for this summer’s World Cup,” she added. “The false nine experience didn’t work.

“As a No. 10 there are players that are far better than him in Morgan Rodgers, Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze – I could go on.

“He’s clearly super talented but over the last two years, he’s not been good enough.

“He went to the Euros in 2024, wasn’t incredible and in the last two seasons he has been missing.

“Something needs to change and I was listening to what former England and Manchester City full-back Danny Mills on talkSPORT’s Sunday Edition last week and it got me thinking.

Phil Foden - Man City — Things are just not clicking for Foden this season

“He said: ‘Manchester City are so unique in the way they play and Phil works on that every day. He goes into an England team and they play nothing like Manchester City.

“Therefore he gets lost at times and he doesn’t maximise his potential.

“He’s not the only player that has to change their style when going from club to country and that is not a valid excuse in my opinion.

“But what if this is completely accurate and he does struggle to adapt because of how he plays at Manchester City.

“So if Phil Foden wants to achieve his potential for his country he has to go to a different club and learn a new way of playing.”

With Foden unable to play his way out of his poor patch of form, Kelly has urged the star to find a new club this summer and has proposed two options that would see him link-up with some familiar faces.

Pep Guardiola Phil Foden — City boss Pep Guardiola has helped nurture Foden into a fabulous talent but has recently taken the under-fire star out of the limelight

“It might sound scary to him but he’s 25 now and he needs to pull his finger out before it’s too late,” Kelly said.

“It’s not like he’s been playing well for Manchester City. He needs a change to stop this club and international career situation falling apart any further.

A reunion on the cards?

“There’s a lot of places he could go. Vincent Kompany, his old teammate at City, maybe he could go to Bayern Munich and link-up with him.

“Maybe he links-up with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. They worked together before at City and Martin Odegaard can’t stay fit.

“Pep Guardiola has literally described Foden as his son in the past but it’s time for his little boy to grow up and fly the nest.”

Foden’s plight was also a topic of discussion on talkSPORT Breakfast on Thursday where former Aston Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor provided a deep dive into the midfielder’s difficulties this term.