Phil Foden Man City prediction comes true - it should prompt inevitable Kevin De Bruyne call

If you ask Manchester City's best player this season where he wants to play then he will direct you to the tape of the 4-1 win against Aston Villa and say 'Just there please'. This was Phil Foden at his sumptuous best this year. The string-puller, the architect of opportunities, the master of small spaces and the lethal finisher.

But for City's biggest game of the week, he didn't get to play where he wanted. He was shunted to an inside-left role. Not quite left-wing. But also not at the heart of proceedings. It was an uncomfortable compromise against Arsenal and it didn't get the best out of Foden.

This is the balance Pep Guardiola is now having to strike and he might just be coming to an uncomfortable conclusion. For how much longer does Kevin De Bruyne remain the conductor of this team? The apprentice is now the master.

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Guardiola has often insisted Foden would end up central eventually. Not just in a positional sense, but in a literal one as well. Whatever City go to achieve this season, that is certainly true.

His hat-trick against Aston Villa took him to 21 goals for the season. A year ago they won the treble but Foden was mostly on the edges. He didn't start the biggest games, although he did come on in the first half of the Champions League final in Istanbul when De Bruyne went off injured.

Perhaps that moment will turn out to be symbolic. This season it is unthinkable that Foden won't be starting against Real Madrid, or won't be at the heart of the matter in a title decider, or an FA Cup final, or a Champions League final. He is City's best player this year. The potential was delivered on