Manchester City manager, Enzo Maresca, has expressed confidence that England international Phil Foden can return to his best form and become one of the Premier League’s top players again.
Foden ended his 10-month goal drought with a strike in City’s 3-2 victory over Ipswich last weekend before producing a hat-trick in their 5-1 Champions League triumph over AEK Athens on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old enjoyed a remarkable 2023/24 campaign, scoring 27 goals and winning several individual awards, including the Premier League Player of the Season prize.
However, Foden has struggled to reproduce those performances over the past two seasons and has previously spoken about his mental health challenges.
Maresca, who took charge of City in June, said he had held several discussions with the midfielder to reassure him of his importance to the team and help him rediscover his confidence.
“Since we started, I sat down with Phil two or three times, especially at the beginning. Just to show him, I don’t know if love is the right word to use, but just to show him how important he is,” Maresca said.
“I said many times that I know Phil from years ago so I know how for different reasons, the last few years it was not good enough.
“When you have more players like Phil available, you are a better team because again it’s a matter of improving players. If you improve the players, you improve the team.
“So for me, I think it’s my duty to try to help Phil to be again one of the best players in England.”
Maresca has enjoyed an impressive start to life at the Etihad Stadium as he takes on the challenge of succeeding Pep Guardiola, who spent 10 years in charge of the club.
Apart from a 4-2 Champions League defeat to defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, the Italian has overseen a strong start, becoming the first manager to win his opening seven Premier League matches in charge of a new club.
Despite City’s performances on the pitch, uncertainty remains over the club’s financial charges.
City face the prospect of severe sanctions, including a substantial points deduction that could potentially lead to relegation, unless they overturn a guilty verdict relating to more than 100 alleged breaches of Premier League financial regulations.
Maresca, however, insisted that the situation had not affected the atmosphere within the squad, pointing to the adjustments made following significant changes to the club’s personnel and management.
“In any club, when you lose important players, many important players, and you lose the manager after 10 years, it always takes time to compete again,” he said on Thursday.
“But this organisation last summer changed many important players, changed the manager after 10 years and we are competing at the moment.”
City will travel to Aston Villa on Saturday, with striker Erling Haaland expected to return after missing Tuesday’s European fixture because of a foot injury sustained against Ipswich.
The Norwegian has scored 12 goals in nine appearances this season, making his return a potential boost for Maresca’s side.
However, Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Nico O’Reilly remain injury doubts ahead of the encounter.
