Pep Guardiola makes Phil Foden and Lionel Messi comparison as Man City star responds, ‘No way?’ | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has mentioned Phil Foden alongside footballing legend Lionel Messi following his antics on Sunday afternoon.

The latest high-level praise for Manchester City’s prized academy graduate come off the back of his most recent statement performance during his most productive season in front of goal to date.

Foden’s brace over cross-town rivals Manchester United ensured that Marcus Rashford’s stunning opener inside 10 minutes would have now detrimental effect on City’s Premier League title challenge, with Erling Haaland’s injury-time goal rounding off the scoring.

Manchester City’s 3-1 win over United means that they will travel to Anfield next weekend with just one point separating themselves and Jurgen Klopp’s high-flying Liverpool team, with Arsenal also travelling to the Etihad Stadium at the end of the month.

Speaking to TV2 following Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola insisted that Phil Foden is becoming a player that can now win games single-handily, in the same manner as Lionel Messi.

“The good players, you can play good – but you have to win games, and I met the biggest ever player like (Lionel) Messi,” Pep Guardiola said at the weekend.

“He (Phil Foden) can win games and I don’t want to compare because Phil is not the level from Leo but he is winning games.”

Foden himself was mostly lost for words when the same comments were put to him just moments later, initially responding with ‘No way’ to Pep Guardiola’s praise and comparison to one of football’s greatest players of all-time.

“No way? You can’t compare anyone to (Lionel) Messi he is in his own world but to hear that from the manager is really nice,” Foden admitted.

City can currently not afford to be resting Phil Foden, however their midweek clash against FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Champions League last-16 second-leg could present Pep Guardiola with an opportunity to rest and rotate to some extent.

The reigning champions of Europe hold a 3-1 advantage from the first-leg in Denmark last month, and will be hugely confident of progressing into the last-eight of the competition once again.