Phil Foden reveals surprise plans for life after football as Man City star outlines career change

At 24 years of age, there is still plenty left for Foden to achieve in the line of work that has allowed him to become an England international and household name. He is a six-time Premier League title winner that has earned 41 caps for his country.

There will, however, come a day when Foden has to hang up his boots – with his plan being to spend more time enjoying a hobby that few of his fellow footballers have taken up. He has told Korda TV’s YouTube channel: “This is me when I retire. A vlog for fishing. When I was around five, my old man would always take me and I have loved it ever since. I was just catching whatever really, the smaller fish, then the more times I did it I got into catching the bigger fish, the carp. I go to my local places and catch whatever. It’s the buzz — whatever fishing I am doing I enjoy. At the Euros training camp we had lakes on the golf course. I would get the rod out and catch a few carp.”

Foden added on his somewhat surprising pastime: “Probably about 95% of the football lads don’t enjoy it. The odd one likes fishing, so when people find out they say: ‘what a weird sport to enjoy’. They don’t understand why you enjoy it. Obviously, they need to go and try it. I think it’s the perfect hobby to rest your legs and have some down time.”

While few have followed Foden’s lead when it comes to picking up a rod and casting off, some big names from the footballing world have admitted to being partial to the odd spot of fishing down the years – with that list including Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, John Terry and Sergio Aguero.