The former Blues striker says it is ‘an easy decision’ for a highly-rated academy graduate to stay put and fight for more regular game time

Phil Foden will not head the same way as Jadon Sancho at Manchester City, says Shaun Goater, with it an “easy decision” for another talented teenager to stay put and fight for regular game time.

One promising academy star took the decision to leave the Etihad Stadium back in 2017 as his path to the first team was blocked by seasoned international performers.

Sancho has gone on to earn senior recognition with England after swapping life at City for that at German giants Borussia Dortmund.

It has been suggested that Foden may have to leave the Blues, potentially on loan, in order to find the minutes his ongoing development needs at 19 years of age.

Goater, though, is not convinced that a player who is held in high regard by Pep Guardiola should be considering a move elsewhere, with patience set to be rewarded in Manchester.

The former City striker told the Evening Standard: “I think Phil staying is an easy decision.

“He’s with some of the best players in the world, the best manager in the world tactically, learning all what he’s learning.

“If Phil decides to leave City at 22, 23, 24, he’s still got a lifetime of football ahead of him.

“If he was only playing two games a season, you’d think, ‘You need to be playing.’ But Phil is getting in the region of 12 games, they are not all starts.

“I think each year he will get more games. David Silva is going to be finishing, so it’s an easy decision for him to stay. Jadon Sancho was never in the first team on the bench, so that was an easy decision for him.”

Goater added on the challenges facing Foden, who has taken in just nine appearances for City this season: “What I know from the game is the more a player plays, the more he adjusts to it, the more they adjust to that level.

“If Phil was to play between now and the end of the season we’d all just come away thinking, ‘Why hasn’t he been playing all this time?’

“Every time he plays I don’t see a player that looks like he’s way off the mark. I don’t see a drop in our game.

“No one can tell me if Phil was playing between now and the end of the season that he wouldn’t improve.

“Now Pep will probably argue, will we win what we will win [with him in the team]? That’s really the question.

“He’s probably wanting the players to come in to take the team to another level and not just do the same. He will probably say at this moment in time that Phil can’t take the team to another level, hence the minutes that he’s getting.”

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