Phil Foden is now a star, starting in the Manchester City team that just knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League. The whole world knew about a glorious Foden at the age of 24. So let’s go back in time and see how people knew about Foden, through the stories of those involved.

A friend of Foden’s father once “bet” that the boy would become a professional player, but could not find the nаme Ronnie Foden in the betting list. That’s because the people around only know the nаme Ronnie, given by his grandmother when the boy was born, instead of his official full nаme Philip Walter Foden – exactly the same as his father’s nаme.

Talking about Foden’s future football career, of course there are many starting points, and one of them, without exaggeration, is right after birth. Foden’s parents tied a ball to his walker, and as soon as he learned to walk, Foden played soccer for the first time in his life. The father asserted: “He will play for the England team in the future.” The betting story just mentioned was when Foden was only 2 years old!

From the age of 6 to 14 years old, Foden never missed an opportunity to play football, in any form. Mark Allen, former Director of Manchester City Football Academy, commented that the boy’s talent is “too great to believe it is true”. Terry John, the first coach, remembers clearly: “With just one instruction, Foden immediately perfected all the basic techniques of football.” Another coach, Jason Wilcox: “I have never seen a kid as easy to train as Phil.”

In general, anyone who was related to young Phil Foden in the past remembers the impression of this talent. Joe Makin, in charge of talent hunting for Manchester City, told about a match Foden participated in when he was 7 years old. “I clearly heard a certain man sаy to the people around him: Even if I had to pay to watch this kid play football, I would still like it.” Jim Cassell at Manchester City football academy: “I’ve said it a million times. When he was 9 years old, Phil played football just like Messi. The left foot, the balance, the movement, the passes… it’s all like magic.”

Later, Foden had a weakness when he approached top football, which was speed. Like other insiders, speed coach Tony Clarke is completely satisfied with Foden’s “easy to train” characteristics. “I still think Foden is very fast, but he could be even faster,” he said. Because the hand strоke is a bit low and the starting step is a bit long. Now it’s completely different, with legs like pistons. I have been in the profession for 27 years, and have been in advanced training for more than 15 years. I have trained doctors, professional sportsmen, all kinds of people in general. And I have to sаy that Phil is extremely smart.”

Every day, we still see in the newspapers countless stars who came from slums, full of criminals, and escaped poverty thanks to football. Phil Foden, according to stories, is the complete opposite: good, good, gentle, a little “cheesy” but very… cute. Since childhood, he has helped his parents save money, because Foden likes nothing more than playing football (and fishing – another hobby of Foden). Don’t buy toys. No need for game genres. Growing up is the same. Not to mention luxury cars, Foden hasn’t even bought a car yet. There were also no problems or transfer requests, when Foden’s whole life he only wаnted to play football for Manchester City. Academy director Mark Allen: “Contract? 10 minutes and it’s done.”

When I first arrived in Manchester and watched a match of the Manchester City Football Academy, coach Pep Guardiola jumped out of his chair: “Who is that guy?”. In top football, just one sentence like that can be considered… life-changing. In fact, Foden only played very little before this season, while he was too good to play for the youth team. Meaning, Phil just… sat idle for quite a long time. Wilcox explains:

“That is Phil’s characteristic of patience. He is being led by the number 1 coach in the world, and believes in that coach.” In other cases, it is likely that the “go or stay” problem has already arisen. But Foden is too “good”. And now, he has truly shined at a high level, as if it were inevitable.