What maybe became lost in the hoopla around Erling Haaland’s new mind-bending contract is that the little guy behind him will be here for all that too.
Haaland and Phil Foden, together for another nine years. Nine more years of this, of Manchester City’s two true Galacticos in the post-Kevin De Bruyne era.
They dovetail, understand each other – even if their manager was stressing there is much room for improvement in that department. Only De Bruyne has offered Haaland more assists than City’s academy jewel since the Norwegian stormed these shores in 2022.
Foden’s going nowhere fast and neither is Haaland: the City rebuild job, although large, is somewhat easier if a perennial top scorer and most productive midfielder are already in situ. That’s easily more than £200million for the pair.
After a campaign that has, in part at least, been hampered by ill-health, Foden has taken it upon himself to make his point for the Premier League champions over the past few days. A double at Brentford and another down here yesterday (SUNDAY) suggest last season’s PFA Player of the Year is back to somewhere near meeting soaring expectations.
Little poacher’s finishes, the two of them in Ipswich. In the right areas, the easy goals, taking him to within four of a century for his boyhood club. The sort City will need many more of once De Bruyne goes, because occupying that space right up next to Haaland will be Foden’s for keeps. Six in six league matches now, Pep Guardiola needing this form from Foden with some permanence.
Erling Haaland celebrated his historic new Manchester contract with his 17th league goal of the season
Phil Foden backed up his brace against Brentford in midweek with another goals on Sunday night
Ipswich remain 18th in the league table but saw their goal difference take a hammering against the champions
‘Around the box Phil has the goal in his blood, his bones, his mind,’ Guardiola said. ‘That’s why I want to try to put him central because he has a specific quality.
‘We’ve talked a lot in the last months and he is a completely different boy. He’s smiling. I’m happy he’s happy again. There is nobody who desires more than me for him to be a one-club man, to finish his career here. An incredible City fan with goals, assists, the work ethic.’
That City are somehow up to fourth – only six points off Arsenal – provides a fair commentary on the state of this year’s division, on a day Ruben Amirom labelled this version of Manchester United the worst in the club’s history.
Those travelling in one corner of Portman Road remained unaware of that remark but the result at Old Trafford gave them more than enough ammunition with the songbook anyway. It looked a jolly afternoon out, relief after months of toil with one away win in 10.
Ipswich created some opportunities before Foden’s 27th-minute opener – Omari Hutchinson and Liam Delap going close – but by the time Ederson strongly repelled Ben Johnson shortly after the break, the game was already over.
Foden swivelled to convert De Bruyne’s cut back, Mateo Kovacic rattling in Foden’s lay off from 20 yards three minutes later. Foden swept underneath Walton from De Bruyne’s centre three minutes before the break and that was this all taken care of – even for a team who surrendered a late two-goal lead in west London on Tuesday.
The comfort coming alongside the reintroduction of Ruben Dias, back in the fold following a month out, is not entirely coincidental.
Jeremy Doku was integral in all three of those goals – drawing defenders in, intelligently cute throughballs to runners – and was involved in the next two. Scored himself, when striding off the left flank and accepting the fearful Ben Godfrey’s invite, before finding Walton’s far corner via a Dara O’Shea deflection.
Doku was rewarded for his best performance in months with his third goal of the league campaign
James McAtee scored City’s fifth with a cleverly cushioned header from Mateo Kovacic’s cross
Pep Guardiola’s side moved up into the Champions League qualification places with the emphatic win
Assisted the fifth, gleefully darting onto Jack Clarke’s loose ball; two seconds later, Haaland was bouncing a shot over Walton in the style of Mesut Ozil and the City fans were singing about ’10 more years’. Nine-and-a-half really but that’s splitting hairs.
‘Jeremy’s decision-making is (often) not precise enough,’ the City manager added. It was here. The protagonists then withdrew with Wednesday’s trip to Paris Saint-Germain firmly in mind – ‘a final,’ according to Guardiola – and City kept going, James McAtee’s clever cushioned header from Kovacic’s smart diagonal after 69 minutes giving this an ugly feel for Kieran McKenna. Ipswich are losing far too often at home. Liverpool and Aston Villa are coming here soon but perhaps United may offer some respite at the end of February.
McKenna’s shape went as City punished their hosts in key moments. And so the passes became lax, Delap more isolated with each passing minute. The goal difference took a battering and the signs from Everton earlier on hardly helped either. There did come, however, a defiance from all four sides of this old ground on full time.
‘The crowd were fantastic,’ McKenna said. ‘That was certainly shown at the end. They showed an amazing togetherness with the players. It’s helped us up until this point and we need to build on it.’
There is a different outlook for Guardiola, whose squad will appear different for Chelsea next week. Three signings – two in defence, more speed back there with Abdukodir Khusanov, and additional threat up front with Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt – are on their way.
It’ll allow City to breathe a bit more with selection as they set about cementing Champions League qualification. Then onto a defensive central midfielder, seemingly the most difficult position to strengthen in this frantic window.
‘My players realised what we were,’ Guardiola said. ‘We realised that if we do this then OK we can compete or can be a team enjoying what we like to do.’
