After a strange down season, Phil Foden looked back to his best in the Manchester derby | Jonathan Wilson

One of the many mysteries of last season for Manchester City was Phil Foden. When he was a teenager, everybody knew how good he was. He had been probably the key player shortly after turning 17 as England won the Under-17 World Cup in 2017, and there had been a clamour for him to play for Manchester City long before Pep Guardiola began to start him regularly in 2020-21. For four seasons he was one of the best players in the league and then, suddenly, there was nothing – at least by the exceptionally high standards he had set.

Foden had not had a good Euros in 2024. He has never really produced his best for England, a function perhaps of him playing for a club with such a specific style of play. Take him out of that regimented environment where he knew exactly what runs to make, exactly where his teammates would be moving, and he found it hard to adapt. And England generally did not play well at that Euros, despite reaching the final; the front end of the team was a mess, lacking the balance of previous Gareth Southgate sides.

But why did Foden’s form fail to return when he got back to City? It’s not uncommon for players who have played for sides who have gone deep at summer tournaments to start the following season slowly. But Foden never regained his form. He suffered a couple of bouts of illness and an ankle injury, and although that did disrupt his season, there was no long-term ailment. He started 20 Premier League games, came off the bench on eight occasions, scored seven goals and only very rarely looked like himself. For all the new signings at City this year, one of Guardiola’s more important jobs as he looks to restore his side to greatness is to get Foden back to his best.

Foden came off the bench in the defeat to Tottenham and started for the first time this season as City beat Manchester United 3-0. It would be reckless to read too much into a performance against Ruben Amorim’s underperforming side – opposing attackers and creators have a tendency to play well against them – but there were promising signs. The partnership with Jérémy Doku, a very different sort of wide forward, is intriguing: Doku runs at players, dribbles, beats them with close technical skill; Foden drifts inside and creates chances through the quality of his passing and movement.

The opening goal on Sunday was typical of this. As Rodri released Doku on the right, Foden found space in the middle of the box – despite every United player being in their own defensive third. Again, only the fact that it was against United, who seem pathologically unable to concentrate, diminishes the achievement. When the cross came in, he then guided a smart header past a weirdly flat-footed Altay Bayindir. The broad grin in his celebration suggested just how much the goal meant, just how relieved Foden was to score his first league goal since January.

“We missed him so much,” said Guardiola. “This season, we need him so much. He moved behind the strikers in that position, he had a sense of goal, a sense of where to turn, a sense of quality to keep the ball. I like the players that play behind the strikers – most of them pass the ball and stay to look at how well they made the pass, but he’s a guy who makes a pass and goes to the penalty spot like an animal, and scores. When he receives the ball he’s angry, because he and the ball are going to score.

“We cannot forget, two seasons ago, when we won the last game against West Ham, he was the most important player of the Premier League, he was maybe the key player to win that league, with the goals, with the continuity. Last season, for injuries, for other reasons, he couldn’t be with us. This season he’s also had knocks and injuries but hopefully step by step he can get back to his best and hopefully show that in a game like today against United. It feels like a special game for him, because he played an incredible match: he’s in with the support, he can do what he’s able to do. We enjoy the happiness in his face.”

For somebody from Manchester, the derby probably does mean more. But the sense with Foden is that playing with freedom and belief again, and scoring, means a lot in itself. Foden needs to be playing well if he is to make England’s squad for next year’s World Cup. He offers a cerebral approach that sets him apart, but there is no shortage of other candidates for those creative roles.

If City needed Foden last season, with Kevin De Bruyne sold they really need him now. It’s early days and there will be far tougher tests than Manchester United ahead, but Sunday offered reasons for optimism.

• This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email [email protected], and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.