Manchester City already have one of the best players in the world in Erling Haaland. Having tied Phil Foden to a new contract, they believe they will soon have another.
Foden's long-awaited five-year deal was announced by City on Friday ahead of a big trip to Anfield this weekend.
This fixture, away at Liverpool, has seen Foden deliver two of his most complete performances in a City shirt in the previous two seasons, scoring and assisting in a 4-1 win in the 2020-21 campaign before grabbing another goal in last term's 2-2 draw.
Now, those sorts of displays are arriving with even greater consistency, prompting an even more prominent role for arguably England's brightest prospect.
When Pep Guardiola shuffled his pack at Copenhagen in midweek to rest key men for the Liverpool match, it was Haaland and Foden who dropped to the bench.
Haaland's 20 goals in 13 matches this season have stolen the show, but Foden, who matched the Norway forward in netting a Manchester derby hat-trick at the start of the month, has seven in 13 from a wide position.
With three assists, too, Foden is contributing a goal involvement every 81 minutes – more than justifying the faith City have shown in him by agreeing new terms.
"We are all so proud of Phil and what he has achieved already," said City director of football Txiki Begiristain. "But we know there is so much more to come.
"His natural talent and ability are obvious, but his hard work, professionalism and dedication make him really special. He loves football more than anything, and his desire to improve is really incredible.
"We feel he can progress further and become even better than he is today.
"By signing this contract, he now has stability and can focus absolutely everything on becoming one of the best players in the world, which we feel he can be."
Foden is still only 22 but has four Premier League titles to his name. Ryan Giggs, who won a record 13, had only three by the time he turned 23.
Although Foden has already tallied over 10,000 minutes across 182 first-team appearances, he initially had to bide his time under Guardiola.
Foden started only three matches in all competitions in the 2017-18 season and 11 the following campaign. Even in the season after that, 2019-20, when he had 17 goal involvements, just 18 of his 38 appearances were starts.
Now, however, the boyhood City fan is one of the first names on the team sheets in the biggest games – this Sunday's fixture undoubtedly included.
"He's not a young talent any more," Kevin De Bruyne said late last season of a team-mate then still just 21. "He's one of the guys."
Foden had 16 goals and 10 assists in 50 matches in 2020-21, then 14 goals and 11 assists in 45 matches last time out.
He appears certain to scale new heights this season alongside Haaland, who has assisted two of his seven goals, with De Bruyne teeing up three.
In the Premier League, Foden has six goals through City's first nine matches, doubling his output at this stage of last season – then a career high.
Guardiola's patient approach has clearly paid off, as Foden himself added on Friday: "I think he has made me 10 times the player I was."
There never appeared any doubt Foden would be staying at City, but that does not make Friday's news and the prospect of five more years in this side any less daunting to their title rivals.
Nuno encouraged by Forest's attitude and commitment, despite Man City defeat
Nuno Espirito Santo believes Nottingham Forest will "achieve what we want" by replicating the attitude demonstrated during their defeat by Manchester City.
Forest went down 2-0 against their title-chasing opponents at the City Ground, and remain just a point clear of the relegation zone with three games remaining.
Despite the defeat, the hosts produced a spirited performance against Pep Guardiola's side, while registering 14 shots on goal compared to 11 from the Citizens - meaning they had had more shots in both meetings this season.
Forest face already relegated Sheffield United, Chelsea and fellow strugglers Burnley in their final three games, and Nuno has seen enough to be confident of securing the Reds' Premier League status for another year.
"We played a good game, were compact, organised and had chances," he told Sky Sports. "We did a good job regarding how hard it is to play against Manchester City, and the players gave it a big go.
"We are disappointed with the result, but the encouragement comes from the way we work, how committed we are, and what we have ahead of us. This is more important.
"We stay positive, and we go for the next three games. With this attitude, we will achieve what we want."
Defender Moussa Niakhate echoes his manager's thoughts, adding: "We had three big chances in the first half, but we didn't score. That was the difference.
"Everybody is working hard. We can be proud. If we perform like this in the next three games, we'll stay up."
Napoli 2-2 Roma: Late Abraham header denies wasteful hosts
A wasteful Napoli were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Roma in Serie A, with a late Tammy Abraham header securing a point for the visitors.
The visitors took the lead from the penalty spot a minute before the hour mark, with Paulo Dybala converting after Juan Jesus fouled Sardar Amzoun.
However, Napoli equalised six minutes later through Matias Olivera's deflected shot, and completed the turnaround with their own penalty six minutes from time as Victor Osimhen tucked away after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was felled by Renato Sanches.
The hosts could not hold on, though, and were pegged back with two minutes to go. Substitute Abraham's header from a corner was eventually awarded following a VAR review after he had initially been ruled offside.
Data debrief
Napoli remain eighth in the Serie A table on 50 points, the exact amount they had registered after their opening 19 games of last season.
Though his penalty was not enough to earn Roma victory, Dybala continued his impressive start to 2024, during which he has been involved in the joint-most goals in Serie A with 12 (nine goals, three assists).
Gvardiol: Four more finals for City in title fight
Josko Gvardiol believes there are "four more finals" for Manchester City between them and the Premier League title.
City won 2-0 at Nottingham Forest on Sunday thanks to a first-half header from Gvardiol before a 71st-minute Erling Haaland finish wrapped up the points.
The victory moves City one point behind leaders Arsenal with a game in hand. The Gunners played earlier on Sunday, winning 3-2 at north London rivals Tottenham.
The destination of the Premier League title remains in City's hands as they bid for a sixth Premier League title in seven seasons, and Gvardiol acknowledged that every game between now and the end of the season is vital.
"We need to be focused on ourselves," Gvardiol told Sky Sports. "That’s what we are doing.
"There are four more finals to the end so let's do it."
Gvardiol's goal set City on course for victory at the City Ground, nodding home from Kevin De Bruyne's inswinging corner.
It was only Gvardiol's second Premier League goal since arriving at City from RB Leipzig prior to this season.
Gvardiol was somewhat surprised to get on the scoresheet, saying: "I didn't expect to score, but I found myself in a good position.
"It was really tough especially as the pitch was really dry. It's a more than important three points."
Pep Guardiola was delighted to come away with the three points against a Forest side fighting for their lives at the bottom, with the defeat to City leaving Nuno Espirito Santo's men in a perilous position, just a point above the relegation zone with three games to play.
"It was a difficult game," Guardiola told Sky Sports. "They played with bravery. They have fast players with a lot of quality.
"It is a great victory as we had a lot of games behind us. These games are so, so tough at this stage in the Premier League. Now we have a long week to recover."
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