Liam Gallagher pauses Oasis gig to pay tribute to two Manchester City stars | OneFootball

Two Manchester City stars saw Liam Gallagher pause the last leg of Oasis’ run of shows at Heaton Park at the weekend to shower the pair with praise.

Amid the usual Mancunian rain, the Etihad Stadium’s most dominant midfielder Rodri and its local boy hero Phil Foden took their places in the VIP enclosure – an appearance that became the talk of social media shortly after the gig had concluded.

For Rodri, it was a rare public appearance after a packed summer that included a demanding return to competitive football at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States and a brief holiday detour.

Phil Foden, meanwhile, is enjoying a well-deserved extended break in his senior career after a relentless run of demands in City’s first-team and success along the player. Both players are expected back at the City Football Academy when pre‑season officially begins on 28 July, but until then they remain free to relax.

The on‑stage shout‑out at Heaton Park carries wider symbolism for Manchester City, keeping the club are the forefront of attention as Oasis return to the stage, but also underlining the growing global profile of both Rodri and Foden.

Posing for a photo alongside Anais and Gene Gallagher from the VIP section of the Heaton Park crowd on Sunday night, Rodri donned an Oasis t-shirt as he watched the band in the typical Manchester rain.

City teammate Phil Foden was also in attendance alongside Rodri, while Liam Gallagher would take a moment to issue huge praise on the pair in front of the 80,000-strong crowd as he paused the show to say, “Pay respects to Mr Ballon D’or [Rodri].”

Gallagher’s words would then be followed by a few boos from portions of the crowd before he continued, “Don’t be f***ing booing I’ll get to yous in a minute.”

Admiring Foden’s attendance at the gig, Gallagher also said, “And the wunderkid our Phil, respect!”

Photo: gallagher_anais, Instagram

Liam Gallagher’s endorsement could hardly arrive at a more fitting time for Rodri, as he is desperately looking to get back to the performance heights that saw him usurp Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham to the Ballon d’Or honour last Autumn.

For Phil Foden, the public praise adds a much-needed layer to a difficult last season in which he endured performance and fitness problems off the back of career‑best numbers in front of goal en route to a fourth successive Premier League title in 2023/24.

As the Manchester City squad prepares to integrate big‑money arrivals such as Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders, Foden’s status as the creative fulcrum is only likely to grow – particularly with Kevin De Bruyne now embarking on a new challenge in Naples.

The duo will next be seen in sky blue on 9 August when City take on Palermo in Sicily as part of their condensed pre‑season programme. Fans will be eager to see whether Rodri can get back to the form that has made him Europe’s premier holding midfielder – and whether Foden can translate his domestic dominance of recent years onto an even bigger continental stage in 2025/26.