Phil Foden's Revival Under Enzo Maresca at Manchester City

Phil Foden has heard it all over the past two years. Player of the Year in 2023-24, then drifting so far from his peak that he lost his England place under Thomas Tuchel for the 2026 World Cup. From golden boy to cautionary tale in the space of two seasons.

Now he has a new manager and, crucially, a new mood.

A different Foden

Enzo Maresca has only been in the Manchester City job a short time, but he has already identified one of his biggest early wins: Phil Foden looks like himself again.

“I think Phil had a good game against Arsenal in the last game. He has been sharp and good since day one,” Maresca said, reflecting on Foden’s display in the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal at the Principality Stadium.

City were beaten 3-0, a flat start to life after Pep Guardiola, but Foden’s hour on the pitch offered something the Italian is clinging to: signs of a reset.

“He looks very, very good,” Maresca continued. “People inside the building are saying that, compared to the last one or two years, Phil is a completely different player in terms of mood, in terms of what he is showing in the sessions. This is what we want. Phil is from the academy, from the house, so it is nice for everyone to see him getting better and better.”

That line matters at City. “From the house.” Foden is the poster boy for the academy, the local lad who was supposed to carry the baton through the Guardiola era and beyond. Instead, the last two seasons brought a dip in form, a loss of rhythm, and eventually the brutal cut of missing a World Cup.

Maresca is banking on that pain fuelling a response.

Cherki, competition and a new hierarchy

When Foden’s number went up on the hour in Cardiff and Rayan Cherki stepped off the bench, the narrative wrote itself. One creative talent off, another on. One place, two contenders.

Speculation quickly grew that the pair were locked in a straight fight for a single starting role. Maresca pushed back on that idea, but he did not deny the edge their rivalry can bring.

“They can play together – in different positions – but for sure they are quite similar,” he said. “At the end, if you want to build an important team, you need competition inside the team. So it’s good that Phil and Rayan have that competition, but they can also play together in some games.”

The message is clear. Nobody gets a free run, not even the academy jewel. But if Foden really is “a completely different player” in training, this is the kind of fight he should relish.

Life after Pep

This is not just a personal reboot for Foden; it is a structural one for City. For the first time since 2015-16, they are starting a Premier League season without Pep Guardiola in the dugout.

Maresca does not pretend he is ripping anything up. He talks instead about continuity, about extending a dynasty rather than replacing it.

“I’m very excited to start this new chapter, this new journey,” he said. “The target is to carry on from the last 10-15 years.”

That is an enormous standard to uphold. Titles, records, relentlessness. Yet City have made a habit of smoothing managerial transitions. Each of the club’s last four permanent managers has won their opening league fixture in charge. Maresca knows that record, and he wants his name on that list.

Bournemouth, big money and a missing winger

The new era properly begins on Sunday, when Bournemouth visit the Etihad Stadium to open the 2026-27 Premier League campaign.

The game could give home supporters their first competitive look at £116 million summer signing Elliot Anderson at the Etihad. The price tag alone will draw attention; how Maresca fits him into an already talent-heavy squad will shape the early weeks of the season.

One player who will not feature is Jeremy Doku. The winger is sidelined with a calf problem, a blow to City’s wide options but potentially another opening for Foden to cement his place in the starting XI.

The stage is set: a new manager, a record to protect, a blockbuster signing waiting in the wings, and an academy star trying to prove he belongs at the heart of it all again.

If Foden really has changed, Bournemouth at home is where he starts to show it.