Garth Crooks believes Manchester City sold a player in the summer who was more talented than Phil Foden.
Fulham skipper Tom Cairney claimed that the 23-year-old is “England’s most naturally gifted footballer by a mile.”
Jamie Carragher also stated that only Jude Bellingham can be viewed as a natural talent on the same level as Phil Foden for England.
However, Carragher gave Foden the edge over the Real Madrid midfielder.
The £225,000-a-week man has proven this season why his talent has always been championed from day one, registering 24 goals and 11 assists in all competitions.
One would argue that not many players in the world are as naturally talented as the Manchester City technician, who can be viewed as a “generational talent” like Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.
Garth Crooks says star City sold in 2023 is more talented than Foden
Kevin De Bruyne also made a lofty claim that Phil Foden can “make football history” for the next 15 years.
For a player of De Bruyne’s standing in the game to make such confident claims is an insight into Foden’s talent and application.
Often, senior figures at top clubs shy away from making such statements.
Phil Foden is still quite young and has plenty to achieve in his career and as a result, statements such as Kevin De Bruyne’s could add needless pressure on the player.
But De Bruyne is perhaps bullish about how far Foden could go in his career, having trained and played with him.
But Crooks thinks a player City sold in the summer is truly “gifted”, unlike the Stockport-born midfielder.
Garth Crooks believes that man is Cole Palmer, as he raved about his talent and his performance in Chelsea’s 5-0 thrashing of West Ham.
“I’ve been very reluctant to say this as I don’t want to put any more pressure on the lad than already exists but I think Cole Palmer is the best talent this country has produced since Glenn Hoddle.”
“Palmer scored his 24 goal of the season like it was a training exercise and plays his game with such ease he never seems stretched. He sees the pass well before anyone else has seen it and then cuts the opposition in half with it”, he said on BBC Sport.
Crooks continued, “The ball for Nicolas Jackson, whose mis-control landed at the feet of Conor Gallagher to score, was so good and precise it startled him. He then clipped the most glorious through ball for Mykhailo Mudryk, who squandered the chance but by this time it didn’t matter as the game was well beyond the Hammers.”
Garth Crooks made a distinction about the talent level between Cole Palmer and Phil Foden, saying, “Manchester City’s Phil Foden is talented but Cole Palmer is gifted. My hope is the England manager makes the most of these players. History suggests the national team has struggled with talent like this in the past.”
Phil Foden is more talented than Cole Palmer
In our view, while Garth Crooks is correct about Cole Palmer being gifted, Phil Foden is even more talented than his ex-City teammate.
Technically, Foden’s first touch, passing and comfortability in possession in tight areas is superior to Palmer’s.
As a result, the Englishman can be trusted to play in deeper areas, as he has done on several occasions this season.
Palmer is extremely versatile but Foden has played in every position apart in front of the number six for Guardiola’s City side.
Pep Guardiola has entrusted Phil Foden to do so, as he perhaps did not with Cole Palmer due to the latter’s superior tactical understanding of the game as well.
The fact that Guardiola was willing to let Palmer leave is also telling.
The Catalan tactician might view him as a huge talent but in 2019, he went as far as to claim that even for €500 million (£429 million), City will refuse to sell Foden (via talkSPORT).
If arguably the greatest manager in history makes such a claim, one would be inclined to believe that Phil Foden is a superior talent to Cole Palmer.