Phil Foden can dominate the football landscape for years to come, new Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic believes.
Kovacic became City's first signing of the summer, arriving from Chelsea in a £25m transfer, which could rise to £30m with add-ons. With Ilkay Gundogan leaving for Barcelona, Kovacic will take his spot in midfield to offer competition for the likes of Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Kalvin Phillips.
The Croatian has a fine CV, with four Champions League titles and one Europa League among 14 career trophies. He has his sights on the Premier League while in Manchester, and also on maintaining the winning standard in the City dressing room.
Taking part in a video where he commented on some iconic City goals, Kovacic also discussed some of his future teammates - reserving particular praise for Foden.
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Asked which City youngster had the potential to dominate global football for the next decade or so, Kovacic said: "I think Phil Foden is probably the player that can dominate and that [has] already won so much throughout his young career and showing every game that he is on a big level and a huge, huge talent.
“As well in this game [Champions League final] when he came on he was great, and to see his movement and his skill, I think he’s a special player. Very similar to David Silva maybe, this is the type of player that I see in Foden.”
The new signing also discussed Rodri's iconic Champions League-winning goal, saying he hoped he could improve his own goalscoring just like Rodri has done over the last two seasons.
"It was a big big game. City dominating all games but this game was quite equal," he explained. "When it was tough and decisive, City scored the goal which shows their mentality and consistency. Again a midfielder scores it, maybe I can score it [in the future]. It's not my biggest part of my game but a part I can improve a lot. Rodri as well improved a lot and scores many goals, I can improve in this way a lot."
Kovacic had previously praised Ilkay Gundogan's goals record, particularly in big games, saying: "Gundogan is the player that improved he most at City under Pep Guardiola.
"He was always a top top player, under this team he became the goalscorer, scoring so many decisive goals. For him as a midfielder scoring two goals in this game [vs Aston Villa in 2022] is no easy. To score in such big moments is amazing. It shows City's mentality. They were 2-0 down in this game, to fight back and win the title is amazing."
