Pep Guardiola Says Manchester City's Phil Foden Will Not Leave Club on Loan

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has hailed Phil Foden and said he will not be allowed to leave the club on loan.

The 18-year-old got on the scoresheet in City's 7-0 UEFA Champions League win against Schalke on Tuesday, and Guardiola dismissed the notion that he needs a loan spell to get more game time.

Per Goal's Dom Farrell, he said:

"The people say he doesn't play too much. He is 18 years old and he has played a lot of minutes.

"The people say he should be on loan; Phil Foden will not be on loan. All the time he is here he will be close to me because he is an incredibly talented player.

"He is with us. Congratulations [to him], because the minutes he played he did really well."

Foden came off the bench on Tuesday to score City's penultimate goal in the rout after a neat exchange with Leroy Sane:

It was Foden's sixth goal of the campaign in his 23rd appearance in all competitions.

He has started just eight matches, though. Aside from a start against Hoffenheim in the Champions League, they've all come in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Community Shield.

When coming off the bench, it has often been with City comfortably ahead, as football blogger Connor Rowden observed:

Breaking into a senior side is rarely easy for a youngster, and at City, he is attempting to do so as part of one of the most talented and deep squads in world football.

City are still in the hunt for a quadruple. Having won the Carabao Cup, they're one point ahead of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League with eight matches remaining, while the win over Schalke saw them reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. They will also face Swansea City in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Citizens have been dominant in recent months, too, as Opta's Duncan Alexander demonstrated:

With the Sky Blues playing so well across multiple fronts, handing starts to a teenager isn't going to be that high on Guardiola's list of priorities.

The Englishman seems to have the manager's backing, though, so he'll be expecting more first-team football at the Etihad Stadium in the future.

He's also learning his trade under one of the best coaches in world football, which is perhaps more beneficial for his development than playing elsewhere.

As long as he gradually plays a more significant role at City in the coming seasons, there is little harm in staying put.