Guardiola has dismissed suggestions Phil Foden has fallen out of favour.
Pep Guardiola has admired Phil Foden as a “diamond” whose time will come again.
The England midfielder has started just five games for the Sky Blues and completed the full 90 minutes only twice since World Cup break.
The Man City boss has emphatically dismissed suggestions England midfielder Foden has fallen out of favour or slipped down the pecking order at the Etihad Stadium.
Phil Foden was outstanding for the City as the 22-year-old scored hattrick in October against Man United. He is now waiting for the next opportunity.
The City boss said: “If you are saying I don’t trust Phil, forget about it. Phil is our diamond.
“He needs to be himself. I saw other players better than him at times after the World Cup. He struggled with his ankle, a lot.
“He played an incredible effort, playing with pain, but he arrived at the moment when he said, ‘Pep, I cannot any more’, so he had to rest and recover.
“We gave him a week or two weeks off, and after that Riyad (Mahrez) was in his best time of the season and Jack (Grealish) made a step forward.
“Always I say to him, ‘You are so young, next season is a new one. If you drop a little bit this season compared to the previous one, it’s an absolutely normal process’.
“How you handle it is the question. He is training like an animal, there’s no doubt about that, and he will be back.”
City travel to Bournemouth on Saturday looking to get back to winning ways after frustrating draws against Nottingham Forest and RB Leipzig in the past week.
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