Phil Foden is desperate to rediscover his “level” for Manchester City, but says he has no interest in replicating Kevin De Bruyne after the Belgian’s exit.
The England international will be expected to fill a sizeable void left by De Bruyne, who joined Napoli on a free transfer after 10 years with Man City.
Foden struggled last season, contributing just 10 goals across all competitions, his lowest tally for City since the 2019-20 season when he started just 18 games (eight goals).
The 25-year-old wants to make amends ahead of the 2025-26 season, which starts for City on August 16 when they travel to Wolves.
“I want to get back to my level, I just have to put the work in in training and believe in myself,” he said in an interview with the club’s official media channels.
“I think after last season, we needed to add to the squad and bring in fresh legs. The new additions have done really well, they’ve settled in really quickly and they’re here to help us.
“We can all see the quality of them from the [FIFA] Club World Cup and what they bring to the team so we’ve got a bigger squad at the moment but I think it was needed.
“I’m just looking forward to the season and linking up with players that I like to play with and enjoying it really.”
Indeed, Foden will be joined by a host of new faces as Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki look to make an impression, as well as the defensive additions of Rayan Ait-Nouri and goalkeeper James Trafford.
Reijnders and Cherki will be expected to provide competition in attack for Foden, who also added just five assists in all competitions last season for City, his lowest mark since 2018-19 (two).
Pep Guardiola will run the rule over Foden’s best position, as well as how Cherki and Reijnders slot in behind talisman Erling Haaland, when the Premier League returns.
“I’m not sure where the manager sees me this year, I can play in multiple different positions but we all know that my favourite position is inside, in the pockets,” he added.
“Let’s see what happens. I’m not here to replicate what Kev did because we all know how good he was and what he did for the club.
“It’s just about trying my best and getting to the level I set when I won Player of the Year; I want to get back to that.”
