Now we have it direct from the horse’s mouth – neither Kevin De Bruyne nor Erling Haaland are the best players in the Premier League at present, according to Manchester City supremo, Pep Guardiola.
The City manager has gone on record to voice his opinion after his side racked up yet another victory in the Premier League and extended their unbeaten run across competitions to19 games, going all the way back to mid-December.
A blistering second-half display inspired by Phil Foden turned around City’s fortunes to diminish the significance of Marcus Rashford’s first-half goal in the Manchester derby.
Operating with apparent ease and facility on both wings at various stages in the contest, the 23-year-old playmaker stepped up brilliantly to find the net twice, before Erling Haaland would round off the scoring in additional time to make up for his amazing earlier blunder right before the goalmouth that had Guardiola and the Etihad faithful gagging with disbelief.
Quizzed after the game on whether Phil Foden has what it takes to become one of the best players in the Premier League, Pep Guardiola immediately insisted that, based on current performances, the Manchester City playmaker is already the best player in the division at present.
“He is right now, this season, yes,” Guardiola said. “He has been the best, so far. Always I had the feeling he could score goals, in the training sessions, but now he is winning games.
“He has incredible work ethic, it doesn’t matter the position he doesn’t complain. But now he wins games. When I arrived he was 17 and he had it. He lives to play football. He loves it.”
Guardiola went on: “He understands defensively what he has to do – before he was not really good, so he understands the games better now. The most important thing, when he got the ball close to the box, everyone got the feeling that something is going to happen.
“The feeling he is aggressive to score, that’s why he is becoming a really important player for us and the national team.”
Foden up till now has a record of 28 goal contributions across all competitions, scoring 18 goals and providing a further 10 assists in what is to date his most productive season with the Manchester City first-team.
City take on Liverpool at Anfield this Sunday, with the meeting at Anfield presenting the champions with the much-needed opportunity to go two points clear at the top should they record victory against their title rivals.