Phil Foden has what it takes to one day win the Ballon d’Or award, according to Brentford boss Thomas Frank.
The Manchester City star is enjoying the best form of his career this season, registering 13 goals and ten assists in all competitions.
Three of those goals came against the Bees just two weeks ago when the Premier League champions won 3-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The two sides meet again on Tuesday for a game that was originally scheduled for December but was rearranged due to Man City’s involvement in the Fifa Club World Cup.
Foden‘s hat-trick is fresh in the mind of Frank, who believes the 23-year-old could reach the very top of the game during his career.
“How do we stop him? Good question,” the Dane said. “Phil Foden is a very good player. For me, he’s the closest England get to a Ballon d’Or winner in the future. I think he has that potential, that level.
“I think he influences the game in so many ways. The last game he got on the end of three situations and scored three goals. He is very at good dribbling, very good at sliding people in.
“He works very hard. He seems to have a good mentality – I don’t know him personally – in terms of working hard. So he is very good. But they have so many good players. The whole team basically!”
Brentford did manage to beat Man City home and away last season, but Frank admits they will have play the perfect game in order to win at the Etihad again.
“We hit a very high level,” he said. “We need to play almost the perfect game. Especially in defence. I think we are good there generally, and don’t give much away. But this season maybe given more chances and goals than usual. That’s the big thing we need to adjust.
“I think the last 24 games I have changed my back three or four, or five with the goalkeeper, a lot of times. 19 times we played a different set-up at the back which doesn’t help. There are things we need to avoid regardless of how many players we are changing.”
