If Phil Foden s Premier League debut arrives over the coming weeks, do not expect Manchester City s diminutive 17-year-old midfielder to be intimidated by the prospect of tangling with older men and bigger physical specimens.
Pep Guardiola has taken a shine to the Stockport teenager, who impressed on City s pre-season tour to the United States. Having selected him as an unused substitute in the Champions League against Celtic last season, Guardiola is seemingly ready to integrate Foden on a full-time basis from Saturday s opening weekend trip to Brighton and Hove Albion onwards.
The England Under-17 international s progress comes as no surprise to Steve Eyre, a former youth coach at City who fondly remembers watching a nine-year-old Foden excel when challenged to mix it …