Manchester City

Since the 2018-2019 campaign, Pep Guardiola has been fortunate to have both playmakers at his disposal for what have been relentless campaigns due to City's success.

However, with De Bruyne now 33 years of age and having spent prolonged spells out of the starting lineup due to injury over the past 18 months, City fans have been left to ponder life without the legendary Belgian.

With less than 12 months remaining on his contract, that could come sooner rather than later, depending where the now-veteran sees his future after 2024-25.

Nevertheless, regardless of his eventual decision and exceptional start to the new campaign, there is a debate to be had over whether Foden can act as a direct successor.

Although Foden won a range of individual awards for his performances in several different positions last season, he could plausibly be deployed in the centre on a weekly basis once De Bruyne is no longer at the Etihad Stadium.

'it is impossible to replicate him'

Speaking to Sports Mole on the subject, McInerney has admitted that there is a fascination over Foden's future role, while implying that no-one will ever be able to deliver the numbers that De Bruyne has achieved during his City career.

He said: "It's going to be interesting to see because we have been waiting for a long time for the successor of Kevin De Bruyne and who will it be, and it always felt to me like it should be Phil Foden. He was touted as the David Silva successor and that didn't happen, Gundogan sort of stepped up a little bit more into that role.

"It felt like it would be a little bit of a stint out wide for a while and work on his game overall. It felt last season when De Bruyne was out that Guardiola replaced him with Phil Foden a lot more central.

"No-one is going to be De Bruyne. Statistically, there has never been anyone like De Bruyne, and even as good as Foden is, he is a different take on that role. He is more of a goal threat, arguably, with scoring and dribbling and all that kind of stuff. But he is not the creative genius in the way that De Bruyne is. No-one is. His vision and his range is genuinely impossible to replicate because there is no-one that does it.

"I've seen the graphs. He is off the scale compared to everyone else. I'm genuinely terrified about him going because he is a cheat code. Having said that, even without De Bruyne last season, we were still largely good. Not as good as usual, but still brilliant. I think he is still going to play a lot. Obviously we have only been playing once a week. I suspect, sensibly, he will rotate an awful lot over the coming months because, I felt a chill in the air today for the first time and it was 9C and I was like 'it was 17C last week, where has that gone?'

"The weather has dropped in half and with winter coming and two games a week, De Bruyne is going to have to rest. He is 33 years old and you don't want to risk an injury. His fitness looks good right now and he said he feels good as well, but ultimately, it is because he is playing once a week, and as soon as those games rack up, he is going to get tired.

"I do feel that we will see Foden play central an awful lot, and De Bruyne will sit out here and there. I don't know which games because I don't know how you rest De Bruyne for Inter at home."

De Bruyne doesn't need goals and assists to be influential

De Bruyne may have only contributed one goal and one assist - both against Ipswich Town - in the opening three Premier League fixtures of 2024-25, but his overall performances have been of the highest calibre.

With Foden having only played the second half against Chelsea in the first game, De Bruyne has been required to hit the ground running, even having represented Belgium up until the last 16 of Euro 2024.

Aside from being withdrawn against West Ham with two minutes left, De Bruyne has delivered 90-minute displays, something that will not necessarily be expected of him as the season progresses.

All eyes will be on where Foden lines up in this side once he returns after the international break. With De Bruyne naturally not being involved as regularly once the schedule ramps up, Foden will have his chance to stake his claim.