Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden suffered a painful setback during the 2-0 Manchester derby defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday. The England star landed awkwardly on his hand and was later diagnosed with a broken bone.
Despite the injury, City boss Pep Guardiola has included Foden in the squad traveling to Norway, where the Premier League champions are set to face Bodo/Glimt in their crucial UEFA Champions League clash on Tuesday night.
Guardiola Confirms Foden’s Fitness
Speaking ahead of the European fixture, Guardiola reassured fans about the midfielder’s condition.
“𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘’𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆,” 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔.
Foden’s presence could be vital as City look to secure a top-eight spot in the competition and maintain momentum on the continental stage.
Haaland and City’s European Focus
Guardiola also addressed concerns around Erling Haaland, who has gone seven games without scoring from open play.
“𝑯𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒕,” 𝑮𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒓’𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕.
With City now winless in four Premier League matches and trailing league leaders Arsenal by seven points, Guardiola insists the team’s full attention is on Europe for now.
“𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅, 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒈𝒖𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.
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