Pep Guardiola is considering using Phil Foden as a midfielder following the England international’s return from the foot injury he suffered during the summer.
Foden, 21, made his first appearance of the season coming off the bench in the 6-3 win over RB Leipzig on Wednesday in the Champions League, after recovering from the problem that ruled him out of the European Championship final in July.
Guardiola has been using Foden in a central-midfield role during training at the Etihad Campus, with Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva also in those roles, supported by a defensive-minded player in Fernandinho or Rodri.
Foden came on for De Bruyne against Leipzig in a midfield role, with Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish and Riyad Mahrez deployed further forward.
Playing in a deeper role would be a shift for Foden, who excelled as a wide forward last season and started the Euros on the right side of Gareth Southgate’s attacking line.
While Guardiola did not replace Sergio Aguero this summer, he still has options up front and has been playing Ferran Torres as a striker and can also use Sterling as a false nine. Grealish has started every Premier League game this season and also made his Champions League debut this week.
Harry Kane wanted to join City in the summer but Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy did not want to negotiate a deal, so Guardiola will be relying on his midfielders chipping in with goals to support his forwards. So far this season there have been 11 different scorers for the Premier League champions.
“The moment we are not winning people will say why didn’t we buy a striker,” said Guardiola. “But we have an outstanding squad. It was 300 games [for me at City] and they gave me exceptional players. We are the same as last season but changed Sergio Aguero for Jack Grealish and we don’t have a player to score 25 goals so that is why we have to press better, play better and have players arriving in the box.
“For our fans 16 goals in three games is nice and now we rest and think about Southampton.”
Foden will be expected to compete for an England place next month should he successfully return to action for his club. He missed the World Cup qualifiers against Hungary, Andorra and Poland.
City face Southampton on Saturday when they will look to extend their three-match winning run in the Premier League, then have an EFL Cup tie against Wycombe Wanderers where Guardiola could give players a run-out before the matches against Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain when they face Lionel Messi.