Phil Foden contract extension: Did England forward consider Manchester City exit?

Those in his circle are unambiguous, however – leaving Manchester City was never a consideration, as cited in a new report by ESPN’s Rob Dawson.

The club he joined as a child, the club at which he has spent his entire career and the club that handed him the platform to won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award for the 2023-24 season remained the only destination he wanted to be at, regardless of what was happening on the pitch.

Dissecting Foden’s recent struggles at Man City

Foden endured a turbulent 2024-25 campaign, admitting to mental and physical struggles in a range of interviews and acknowledging that “some things are bigger than football” in explaining his inconsistency.

He won his place back in Guardiola’s starting XI in the autumn of 2025 before losing it again from January – a period that raised genuine questions from outside about whether his long-term future lay elsewhere. Those questions, it seems, were never ones Foden was asking himself.

“He will come back” – Pep Guardiola backs Phil Foden to overturn Manchester City and England fortunes

His new four-year deal ensures that Manchester City‘s most decorated academy graduate will be at the Etihad Stadium for the foreseeable future – and with a domestic treble still on the line in the final weeks of the season, there may yet be time for Foden to leave his mark on this campaign before it concludes.