Pep Guardiola outlines Phil Foden path to replacing David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne at Man City

Pep Guardiola believes Phil Foden will eventually evolve into another David Silva, the man who makes Manchester City tick in the final third of the pitch. The 21-year-old England star gave further evidence of his growing maturity by taking on the Kevin De Bruyne role in the vital 4-0 win at Leeds, and provided two assists and a crucial part in another goal.

But with De Bruyne rested ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg at Real Madrid, Foden is expected to revert to a wide role at the Bernabeu. The England international showed another string to his formidable bow by creating two goals from set-pieces to end Leeds’ stiff resistance — a superb free kick onto Rodri’s head for the opener and a far-post corner that Ruben Dias nodded back for Nathan Ake to make it 2-0.

Foden then conjured a slick pass to free Gabriel Jesus for goal number three to end any doubts about the result, another glimpse of a future where he orchestrates play from a central role. De Bruyne is the main man in that role at present, while Bernardo Silva is usually trusted to play it when the Belgian is not in the team.

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But with De Bruyne approaching his 31st birthday, Foden is earmarked as the fulcrum of City's future attack; he has long been seen as the natural successor to David Silva. And Guardiola outlined one big addition to his game that Foden needs to make in order to emulate Silva’s brilliant 10-year contribution to the City cause.

“I think he can play in all five positions up front - wingers on both sides, striker and attacking midfielder in the pockets. He can play all of them,” said Guardiola. “With time he will be more capable of playing in the positions in the middle.

“He