Phil Foden is set to bank an additional £15million when he finally puts pen to paper on a new long-term deal with Manchester City.
Foden, 22, opted not to sign the £150,000-a-week contract on offer to him early last season - and has hit the jackpot as a result. As exclusively revealed in the Daily Star, City have returned to the table with an improved £200,000-a-week deal for their brilliant England playmaker.
The length of the updated contract is six years and the extra £50,000 every seven days equates to thumping £15m over the period. Foden was always going to commit his future to Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions but before doing so was keen to see what new summer signing Erling Haaland was on financially.
This was a wise move given the former Borussia Dortmund striker, who turns 22 later this month, is now City’s joint highest earner, alongside Kevin De Bruyne, on £400,000 a week. That would have been more than double the amount Foden earned – had the latter signed the original contract on the table last October. The fact City have a lucrative bonus scheme in operation helps take their players’ wages nearer to the astronomical sums earned by many of their Premier League counterparts.
With those thrown into the equation, someone such as Foden could end up earning closer to £250,000-a-week over a season, depending on his and the team’s success. Meanwhile, Spanish midfielder Rodri will see his weekly wages at City soar from £120,000 to £220,000 in an improved contract extension currently bring thrashed out. Although he still has two years left on his existing deal at the Etihad, Rodri, 26, is deemed an essential cog in Guardiola’s midfield and the club are keen to tie his services down. He is likely to have another three years added, keeping the former Atletico Madrid man at the Etihad until June 2027.
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Meanwhile, Foden's new City team-mate Haaland has vowed to continue his impressive goal-scoring feats at City after being officially confirmed as Manchester City's new number 9. Haaland will wear the same shirt number he wore at Borussia Dortmund after Gabriel Jesus left the shirt vacant following his £45million move to Arsenal at the start of the week. And Haaland, who cost what could prove to be a bargain £51million transfer fee - as City met his buy-out clause at Dortmund - has promised to continue banging in the goals after scoring 86 goals in 89 games in two-and-a-half seasons in the Bundesliga.
He said: “I'm delighted to have been presented with the number 9. It's been part of my story over the last two years, both at club level and with the national team and I'm looking forward to continuing that at City. It's a shirt that every striker aspires to and to wear it at one of the best clubs in the world is a dream come true. I can't wait to get started.”