Major Phil Foden fitness update emerges as Manchester City return to training ahead of Premier League return | OneFootball

Manchester City have been boosted by the return of Phil Foden to first-team training on Wednesday, as Pep Guardiola’s players returned to club duties.

The 24-year-old has been absent from Manchester City’s cross-competition duties since first appearing for the club on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, as an Erling Haaland and Mateo Kovacic double dismissed of Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Having been granted an extend period away from Pep Guardiola’s preparations for a new season, missing the pre-season tour of the United States in the process, Foden returned in early August following his European Championship run with England in the summer.

Alongside Kyle Walker and John Stones, as well as Spain’s Rodri, Foden was among the last few players to return to training alongside his Manchester City teammates and as such was filtered back into the picture by Guardiola at a slower pace.

But having seen his new 2024/25 season hindered and brought to a total standstill by illness, a new update has come at the perfect time for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City as the fixture schedule intensifies from this weekend.

As the Premier League champions’ players began returning to training ground activities at the City Football Academy on Wednesday following the first international break of the campaign, Phil Foden also resumed activity on the pitch in light of a long-standing illness.

The problem forced Foden to withdraw from an England international call-up by Three Lions interim head coach Lee Carsley over the last fortnight, joining Kyle Walker in staying away from the national team.

Manchester City take on Brentford in their next Premier League match this weekend, in the first of four consecutive home matches across three competitions in the days that remain in September alone.

Next week will then bring about the return of UEFA Champions League football, as the competition’s revamped League Phase begins with Inter travelling to the Etihad Stadium for a repeat of the historic 2023 final stage of the tournament.

The Carabao Cup will also return and with that comes plenty of controversy in the world of Manchester City, with their third round clash at home to Watford separated by just one day between a mammoth meeting with Premier League title rivals Arsenal.

As such, Foden’s return to duties brings about some much-needed additional options for Pep Guardiola and his fellow coaching staff, especially at a time when the club remains without Oscar Bobb due to a long-term injury that the Norwegian continues to recover from.