Phil Foden admits ‘push’ for fitness “as soon as possible” amid uncertainty over Manchester City line-up for United and Inter

Manchester City forward Phil Foden has revealed his ‘push’ to reach full fitness in recent weeks and months, after an operation threw his season into doubt.

The England international sensation prematurely withdrew from the most recent national team break due to an emergency operation on his appendix, which subsequently ruled him out of a crunch period in Manchester City’s season.

Despite missing the UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie with Bayern Munich over two-legs for example, Foden has since fought back to regain full fitness and find his form once again – proving to be a shining light in Pep Guardiola’s squad in recent weeks.

The fine form showcased by the 23 year-old has put him firmly into contention for a place in either of Manchester City’s two history-defining cup finals across the course of the next fortnight.

Speaking after the 1-0 defeat to Brentford on the final day of the Premier League season, Foden explained on his recovery from surgery, “I came back a lot quicker than expected, to be honest. I thought it was going to be a long process.

“I healed quickly and me being me anyway I was trying to push it as soon as possible. It’s definitely taken me a while since my op to get back into things with my fitness. I’ve not been used to sitting around for so long not doing anything so it took a while to get my fitness back.

“Now I’ve got that back and I am looking sharp again and scoring and assisting. It makes me happy and makes me feel comfortable.”

However, Foden has returned to a Manchester City squad that is already in fine form, and whether he has come back in time to prove himself worthy to Pep Guardiola of a starting place in either the FA Cup or Champions League finals remains to be seen.

For Foden, it’s all about enjoying the moment as the rest of the squad is, while also accepting that should he be forced to make an impact from the substitutes bench, then he has no problem in doing so for the benefit of the squad.

“You can’t get much bigger than these two finals,” Foden said. “You know how special the FA Cup is to people here and the Champions League is probably the best competition you can win. It shows the club is going in the right direction. The lads are buzzing and can’t wait for it.

“There are places up for grabs and whoever starts we know we’ve got the quality to come off the bench and change the game and we’ve seen that with me and Julian [Alvarez] coming off the bench and having an impact. It’s been a team game all year and everyone has to train well and deserve their place.”

Manchester City take on Manchester United in the Emirates FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium this weekend, before making the trip to Istanbul for the UEFA Champions League final against Inter on Saturday 10 June in Istanbul.