Barcelona are monitoring Phil Foden as a potential signing, according to Catalan outlet El Nacional, with the Spanish giants viewing his reduced role at City last season as a possible opportunity.
The report suggests Barcelona see value in a player who started fewer games under Pep Guardiola in 2025/26 than in his 2023/24 Player of the Season campaign. However, it also acknowledges the obvious obstacles — Foden’s high wages and his City roots would make any deal complicated even if City were willing to sell.
But separate reporting from Football Insider and The Hard Tackle in the past few days suggests City and Foden are close to finalising an entirely different outcome: a new four-year contract extension to 2030, with an option for a further year, ending speculation that had also linked him with Galatasaray, AC Milan and Atlético Madrid earlier in the window.
If that deal is as advanced as those reports suggest, Barcelona’s interest may already be a step behind events.
Phil Foden has had a difficult two seasons by his own standards, missing out on Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad entirely, and at 26 with just a year left on his existing deal, this summer was always going to prompt scrutiny of his long-term future either way.
Whether that ends in Barcelona or a fresh commitment to City should become clearer quite soon with training resuming yesterday, ahead of City’s pre-season tour of Asia.
