Pep Guardiola's next Man City project? Why Phil Foden should move into midfield to lock down starting berth

It is hard to make sense of Foden's 2022-23 season. He couldn't have begun it any better, starting all of City's nine opening league games, predominantly on the right and left wing, and scoring six goals while adding three assists. He was at his best in the 6-3 thumping of Manchester United, grabbing a hat-trick while dovetailing to devastating effect with Erling Haaland, who also got a treble.

But a poor performance in the 1-0 defeat at Liverpool led to Pep Guardiola benching him for City's next three games, with Riyad Mahrez and then Julian Alvarez taking his place. He returned to the line-up for the final game before the World Cup against Brentford and scored in the 2-1 defeat, the only home match City lost all season.

Foden had a strong World Cup, starring in England's wins over Wales and Senegal plus starting the quarter-final defeat to France. But when he returned, he was back on the bench for the games against Leeds and Everton.

He forced his way back into the starting line-up against Chelsea and Manchester United, but a foot injury in the derby defeat at Old Trafford sidelined Foden for a month.

When he returned to fitness, he came back with a vengeance, scoring four goals in three games against Bristol City, Bournemouth and Newcastle. His resurgence, however, was interrupted by a recurrence of the foot injury, and he then had to undergo surgery to treat appendicitis, putting him out of action for another month.

By the time Foden had recovered, City were in ruthless form and Guardiola had struck upon a winning formula which he did not want to stray from. The man known for 'Pep Roulette' suddenly had a very consistent starting line-up, and for most matches, unless he wanted to rest players, the team almost picked itself.

Foden started against Leeds and Everton late in the campaign, but only because Guardiola had one eye on City's Champions League semi-final tie against Real Madrid. He played no part in the first leg at Santiago Bernabeu, and just six minutes of the second leg.

The forward did start City's final three league games of the season after the title had been secured, and scored against Brighton. He was looking back to his best and seemed to be staking his claim for a starting berth in both the FA Cup and Champions League finals.

But he only got on for 13 minutes against Manchester United at Wembley, and if it hadn't been for De Bruyne's injury, he might not have got on in Istanbul at all.

Foden had made the left flank his own the previous season, seeing off the threat of £100-million signing Jack Grealish, who struggled to adapt to City's way of playing. But after going through that transition season, the former Aston Villa man grew into the team as his second campaign went on, and successfully interpreted how Guardiola wanted to play.

While Foden and Grealish did manage to play well together on occasion, Guardiola ultimately preferred to have his record signing on the left flank over the academy player. Grealish's dribbling ability, his knack for drawing opposing players in and his intelligent passing allows City to slow games down.

That contrasts with Foden, who Guardiola said "has this aggression to go". Aggression is often a compliment coaches give players, a quality that can help prise open rigid teams. But last season, Guardiola seemed to favour control over unpredictability, spelling bad news for Foden.

Guardiola did not seem to like the idea of Foden playing on the right of the attack either, believing Mahrez and Bernardo Silva gave the team more balance. That leaves Foden little choice but to reinvent himself, and midfield is the best place for him to do that.

Conveniently, Foden has viewed himself as a midfielder of the future for some time. After the 2-0 win over Newcastle in March, one of his best performances of the season, he said: “It’s something I definitely want to move into over the next few years. I’ve always seen myself playing there. Hopefully, I can adapt and become a midfielder, that’s my aim.

“I feel like I could possibly get a chance there. I love to score goals and the manager sees that and prefers me wide. I enjoy playing anywhere. I feel like I’m a bit more mature. I feel I can play a lot of different positions very well and I feel like I’ve taken my game to the next step."

Gundogan's departure gives Foden the perfect opportunity to develop as a midfielder. Gundogan would often play on the left of a midfield three when City played 4-3-3, but as the season progressed and Guardiola became fonder of the 3-2-4-1 shape, the German would play alongside De Bruyne, with freedom to get forward due to the double pivot of Rodri and John Stones.

Foden could play in both roles, but in the middle of the midfield four would suit him better, as Rodri and Stones would relieve him of duties in controlling the play and allow him to get forward more.

Naturally left-footed but comfortable with his right, Foden can drift towards either side of the pitch and is an even more prolific scorer than Gundogan. He would likely score fewer goals than as a wide forward, but he could comfortably replicate Gundogan's knack for arriving late in the box and finishing off intricate team moves.

Guardiola has also seen Foden as a midfielder in the making. Shifting his players around the pitch and finding new roles for them is one of his favourite hobbies, something he has done throughout his career.

It was Guardiola who created the 'false nine' role for Lionel Messi at Barcelona, while also converting Javier Mascherano from midfielder to centre-back at Camp Nou. And as coach of Bayern Munich, he moved Phillip Lahm from full-back into midfield, making him one of the most influential players in the team.

Last season, Guardiola went into overdrive in this respect, playing Stones in midfield and turning Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji into highly-defensive full-backs. Always the innovator, Guardiola will need a new project for the coming season, and making Foden a midfielder seems like a logical next venture.

The coach famously named Foden the most talented young player he had ever seen, and clearly believes he can evolve his game. He hinted at a future midfield role for Foden when discussing his varied skillset in February last season.

"Because when you play [on the wing] you are moving to the right, do these kind of things, in the middle many things happen and you have to read what happens to react properly," Guardiola said. "Phil is really good doing that, in the pockets, in the right like Kevin plays, phwoar! But it's not just that, sometimes you have to read when the ball is left, right, when to take positions, when you drop. And still he's young. The skills, he can do it absolutely.

"The action, he did in Nottingham, like shoot and putting the balls in for Erling [Haaland], is the position for Messi when attacking in that period, is perfect from Phil. Sometimes when you play outside it's easier to do these kind of things, but with time he will do it. Important he can play four or five positions as I've said many, many times."

The fact City decided to end their pursuit of Declan Rice also suggests Foden will be playing in midfield much more often next season. Rice has evolved into far more than a mere defensive midfield anchor in the last two years, and it has been reported that Guardiola saw the England midfielder as being more of a replacement for Gundogan than for Rodri.

City were ultimately unwilling to get into a bidding war with Arsenal for Rice, not least because they are reserving a large chunk of their transfer budget to sign Josko Gvardiol.

But given that Rice would have had to learn a different role to the one he had been used to at West Ham and with England, it made little sense to spend in the region of £100 million on a player they would still have to train up when they could do the same with Foden.

The time is ripe for Foden to make the transition to midfield, and it will be fascinating to see how the adaptation goes. There could well be teething problems and he might have to curb some of the attacking tendencies that make him such a thrilling player to watch. But if he wants to become an indisputable starter once more, he has little choice but to make it work.