Phil Foden and Manchester City have reached a formal agreement in principle on a new four-year contract, which is expected to keep the England international at his boyhood club until 2030. The deal reportedly includes an option to extend for a further year and comes as Foden approaches the final season of his current terms.
A product of City’s academy, Foden broke into the first team aged 17 in 2017. Since then he has helped the club to six Premier League titles, a Champions League win, two FA Cups and five Carabao Cups. This season he has made 46 appearances in all competitions, scoring 10 goals and providing five assists.
The 25-year-old enjoyed the best campaign of his career in 2023/24, collecting Premier League Player of the Season and PFA Players’ Player of the Year honours. However, he has struggled to replicate that form since. Across the past two seasons his goal and assist numbers have dipped, he has lost something of a regular starting place under Pep Guardiola, and his last club goal came in December.
Questions have also been raised about his place in England’s World Cup plans. England’s manager has expressed concern after a disappointing international break in March, when Foden started both friendlies — operating as a No.10 against Uruguay and as a false nine against Japan — but failed to make a strong impact. The manager noted that, while Foden impressed in training and arrived in camp in good spirits, he has struggled to reproduce that level on matchdays and said his inclusion for the World Cup is not guaranteed.
Analysis from Sky Sports’ Laura Hunter argues Foden’s decline felt abrupt after his breakthrough season. Despite starting every game at Euro 2024, he did not record a single goal contribution, a statistic that attracted widespread criticism. Since then he has shown sporadic flashes of quality but has lacked consistency; Guardiola has defended him publicly but appears reluctant to rely on him in high-stakes matches. Younger players such as Rayan Cherki and Nico O’Reilly have been preferred at times.
This context makes the timing of a new contract seem surprising to some, yet there are reasons City may want to secure him. With Bernardo Silva likely to leave and speculation around Guardiola’s future, Foden represents continuity and a homegrown link to the squad. At 25 he is still entering what could be his peak years, and a change in coaching or a fresh reset could unlock the form that earned him his awards. City appear willing to back that potential.