Guardiola: "I wouldn't sell Phil Foden - not even for €500M"
Phil Foden has emerged as David Silva's successor at Manchester City and Pep Guardiola claims even €500million would not be enough to buy him.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insists he would not consider selling midfielder Phil Foden for 500 million euros because he is the only player at the could who cannot be sold "under any circumstances". Foden, 19, has long been championed as a star of the future for City and England, having been around Guardiola's first-team squad for almost three years already.
Foden struggling to get regular playing time
He played named player of the tournament after England's Under-17 World Cup success in 2017 and has steadily become a more prominent player in City's first team squad, playing 26 matches across all competitions last season. The midfielder has featured for just 10 minutes in the Premier League this season though, sparking suggestions he is being held back by City. But, with David Silva set to leave the club when his contract expires next year, Guardiola is convinced Foden will take over from the former Spain international.
"He [Foden] is the only player that can’t be sold under any circumstances — the only one. Not even for €500m," Guardiola says in the new book Pep's City: The Making of a Superteam, which was written by Spanish journalists Pol Ballus and Lu Martín.
"Phil's going nowhere — Phil is City. We won't be signing anyone else for that position. When David Silva leaves, we know exactly who our new magician will be. He's grown up with us. He's one of us and he's going to be brilliant — one of the Premier League's best. One thing is clear, Foden has a place in City's first-team. I'd be interested to see if a different manager would have given him his chance to develop or loan him out. I don't like leaving him out of certain games, but I must think of the whole squad. Phil understands that."