Before a single contract was signed, Enzo Maresca picked up the phone and called Phil Foden. That tells you everything about where Foden sits in the new City manager's thinking — and how seriously Maresca is taking the task of rebuilding him.
Maresca's three-year deal as Pep Guardiola's successor was confirmed on June 29. But the Italian had been watching City's 2024/25 match footage for two or three months prior, studying a season that ended with two cup wins but also a very public unraveling of one of their most gifted players. When Foden was left out of England's World Cup squad, Maresca didn't wait for his official start date.
"I spoke with the ones that contacted me, and the only two players I contacted were Jeremy Doku because he became a dad in the World Cup, and Phil when he was left out of the squad to have a chat with him," Maresca said at his first press conference as City boss.
What went wrong with Foden — and why it matters so much
The decline was steep. Foden won the FWA and PFA Player of the Year in 2023/24. Twelve months later, he was being hauled off during consecutive away defeats to Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt, and Thomas Tuchel was publicly questioning his inability to transfer training ground form into matches.
There was a brief bright spell. Playing slightly deeper from late November through mid-December, Foden scored six goals in four straight Premier League games. That version of him — direct, sharp, decisive — is the one Maresca is chasing. The problem is it only lasted about six weeks before everything went flat again.
City recovered after January's low point, winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup. Foden didn't recover with them. That's the gap Maresca has to close.
"I just want to help Phil to be the Phil that we all know, but especially the Phil that we all want," Maresca said. "With Phil in good shape, in a good mood, we can win games."
He's since signed a new contract through 2030 and linked up with agent Rafaela Pimenta — who also represents Erling Haaland — which should bring some much-needed structure to his off-field arrangements. At 26, Foden isn't a prodigy anymore. He's a senior player who needs to perform like one. Anyone pricing City's title odds this season will be doing so with a significant Foden-shaped question mark attached.
Grealish's future is still unresolved
Maresca also addressed Jack Grealish, who remains a City player for now after an injury-interrupted loan spell at Everton in 2025/26. The 30-year-old is expected to travel with the squad to Hong Kong and South Korea next Tuesday, City's preseason tour kicking off with a match against Inter Milan on August 1 — ironic timing given Inter were the opponents in the 2023 Champions League final, perhaps the peak of Grealish's City career.
"Jack, at the moment, he's here. He's a Man City player," Maresca said, carefully. "I have a good relationship with Jack since I left. We keep in touch."
That's not exactly a ringing endorsement of a long-term future. Maresca acknowledged it's difficult to judge a player he hasn't worked with day-to-day, and declined to dig into the reasons behind Grealish's struggles. The tour will give him a look. What happens after that is anyone's guess.
This is Maresca's third stint at City — he won the Premier League 2 title with the Elite Development Squad in 2020/21, then returned as part of Guardiola's treble-winning coaching staff in 2022/23. He knows the club. He knows Foden. Whether that familiarity is enough to unlock the player again is the central question of City's entire season.
"He's from this house. He's from here," Maresca said. "I told him that it's my duty to try to help him."
