Phil Foden has had to wait patiently for his chance in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side but following a few exceptional performances in recent weeks, the 2020/21 season increasingly looks like it could be his breakthrough campaign.

With David Silva set to bring his illustrious decade-long spell at City to an end in the summer and with a place in England’s Euro 2021 squad potentially up for grabs, the pieces are falling into place for Foden to become a key player for club and country.

Pep Guardiola has consistently championed the 19-year-old as a natural heir to Silva in City’s midfield so if the Catalan is true to his word, where could he use Foden next season?

Option one: Central midfield

The most obvious solution seems to be to move Foden into a left-sided central midfield role that Silva has occupied in Guardiola’s first-choice 4-3-3 system.

It is clear when watching Foden that Silva has been a source of inspiration during his years spent in City’s academy, as his style of play is very similar to that of the Spanish schemer.

Not only is Foden left-footed and of a similar build to Silva, he possesses exceptional close control, an outstanding awareness of space and the ability to pick and execute a pass that can split opposition lines.

Although Foden has played over 900 minutes fewer than Silva in the Premier League this season, he has supplied 2.5 key passes per-90 minutes compared to his teammate’s 2.4, highlighting the similarity between the pair in terms of creativity.

Option Two: Right wing

Another option which looks increasingly likely is for Foden to play as an inverted winger on the right flank, as he did to great impact against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup final.

Although Villa performed well against a side that thrashed them 6-1 in the league just a few weeks before, they struggled to keep a lid on the lively Foden throughout the contest with the teenager ending the game with the Man of the Match award.

As well as providing the assist for Sergio Aguero’s opening goal, Foden also had 70 touches of the ball – the highest of any midfielder or attacker barring holding man Rodri – and fired off a team-high five shots on goal too.

While Foden isn’t lightning quick as most Premier League wingers are, he does possess a decent burst of pace and strong dribbling skills, as he demonstrated against Villa by succeeding with three take-ons, again the most on the pitch. A place out wide, therefore, can play to his strengths.

Option three: No.10

Guardiola has generally played a 4-3-3 system in 2019-20 and when he has deviated from that Plan A it has usually been towards a similar 4-2-3-1.

There has been the odd occasion, though, when Guardiola has sacrificed a back four to play with three defenders instead, either using a 3-4-2-1 with split No.10s or 3-4-1-2 with Aguero and Gabriel Jesus paired as centre-forwards.

If Guardiola were to opt for a back three in a game next season, Foden would represent a good choice to play in either of those formations: as a roving playmaker from the right in a 3-4-2-1 or as the chief creator in a 3-4-1-2.