Foden and Brewster in focus
©TM/IMAGO
Since November 3rd, at the U17 World Cup, players from the 48 qualified nations have had the opportunity to convince the numerous local scouts of a move to a top club and lay the foundation for a great career – at least that is the popular opinion. Transfermarkt shows in a series what has become of the best players and most successful goalscorers of the past tournaments. The fifth and final part focuses on the 2017 World Cup.
Editor’s note: This article was first published by Transfermarkt in October 2019 and is now being republished in an updated version.
Phil Foden: The “Stockport Iniesta” among Guardiola’s favorites
His coach Pep Guardiola didn’t stop at the collective praise either. “He is the most talented player I have ever seen. His problem is that his coach sometimes doesn’t put him in the starting line-up,” said the Manchester City coach in 2019 with a wink about home-grown Phil Foden. The offensive player showed his abilities on the big stage at the U17 World Cup in India in 2017.
Foden scored four times in the Young Lions’ tournament win and was awarded the Golden Ball as the competition’s outstanding player. The now 25-year-old, known as the “Stockport Iniesta” at a young age due to his technical qualities and his overview in combination with his hometown, quickly attracted attention in the years that followed. Foden made his professional debut in November 2017. The short stint in the Champions League made him the fourth-youngest Englishman in the history of the premier class. The first appearance in the Premier League followed less than a month later.
Foden has now played over 330 competitive games for Man City, putting him in 26th place on the club’s all-time record player list (102 goals/64 assists). In his trophy cabinet is not only the award for the Premier League Player of the Season 2023/24 given by the Transfermarkt community, but also the handle pot, six championships, two FA Cups and the Club World Cup winner’s medal from 2024.
By 2024, Foden continuously increased his market value to up to 150 million euros. Only two English professionals have been valued higher since market values were introduced over 20 years ago (record statistics). Since then, however, Guardiola’s favorite has gone down in several steps to currently 80 million euros. “Foden’s drop in form is remarkable. The Premier League player of the 2023/24 season is not finding his old strength and is no longer a regular at Man City,” said TM England expert Ben Littlemore as part of the market value update. “He has lost his place in the England national team, which is reflected in his market value. He remains an extremely talented player and there is no reason why his market value curve should not rise just as steeply again.”
Guadiola himself was recently convinced that Foden could get even better: “(He’s) become more mature and so on. (…) The way he moves, he’s always creating something. (…) Phil can take a step and play the way we know him from the past. Last season we weren’t at his best, but Phil has been exceptional every season. Always. You can’t always play at full speed. You have to use the tempo. It was only a matter of time before he improved, and you can’t always Be explosive. You have to work and find the rhythm. Like a good wine, it will get better with time.”
Rhian Brewster: Over a year off due to injury set him back
After the 2017 U17 World Cup, Liverpool FC also spoke out strictly against a change for Rhian Brewster. When the now 25-year-old center forward flirted with a transfer to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the spring of 2018 because of the chance of more appearances, the fight for talent degenerated into a dispute that, among other things, resulted in the cancellation of an agreed friendly match. In the end, the Bundesliga club lost out: Brewster signed a long-term professional contract with the Reds in July 2018.
The desire for the striker at the time was no coincidence: at the U17 World Cup he shone as the top goalscorer with eight goals, and before that he had often trained with the Liverpool FC professionals. The fact that his professional debut didn’t come until more than two years later was mainly due to the youngster’s lengthy absence. Brewster had to undergo two operations as a result of an injury suffered in January 2018 and was missing from the team until the end of March 2019. “There were always moments when I thought about quitting. I was extremely annoyed by the situation, but getting through it showed me that I am a strong person and that I know what I want to do,” Brewster explained at the time.
Brewster was actually expected to have a similar future at Anfield as Foden in neighboring Manchester, including by then coach Jürgen Klopp, who initially strictly rejected a loan. However, the breakthrough with the Reds did not come and in 2020 he moved to Swansea City, where the striker impressed with ten goals in 20 second division games.
Transfer market expert Littlemore explains: “When Brewster, who also trained at Chelsea, first came into the spotlight at Liverpool, there was a lot of hype surrounding him. As a teenager he played for the Reds in the cup, but after his loan to Swansea many expected him to have a bright future with the Reds. Jürgen Klopp described Brewster as a ‘born goalscorer’, but injuries and a blocked route to the first team ultimately forced him to move.”
In 2020, the 20-year-old talent went to Sheffield United for a whopping 26 million euros, where he remains a record signing to this day. “Injuries thwarted his plans there too,” says Littlemore. “His time at the South Yorkshire club was marred by fitness issues and now he is essentially a substitute at Derby County, whose aim is to stay in the Championship. It is always difficult to say whether a talented teenager will fulfill his potential, but there is no doubt that Brewster has been unable to do so, largely due to his unlucky luck with injuries.”
Part 1 of the series: The different careers of the top players of 2009
Part 2 of the series: This is what became of the outstanding professionals of the 2011 tournament
Part 3 of the series: This is what became of the outstanding professionals of the 2013 tournament
Part 4 of the series: This is what became of the outstanding professionals of the 2015 tournament