Veteran midfielder Yaya Touré has stated that young wonder kid Phil Foden is the "future" of Manchester City, as the 17-year-old became the club's youngest player ever in the Champions League in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Feyenoord. 

If he stays he is going to be one of the top players, says Toure

Foden has had quite the rise from his inclusion in the squad for the Celtic clash last December, but it is this season where he has been given his chance to shine after Pep Guardiola threw him in for City's pre-season tour of the United States of America. 

The 17-year-old announced himself on a global scale in the Autumn, as he was a key part in helping England to the Under-17 World Cup in which he was awarded Player of the Tournament for his efforts. 

Foden has been in and around the first-team for the majority of the campaign but yet to make an appearance, but Guardiola hinted that Foden and fellow youngsters maybe given a chance against the Dutch champions. 

Foden and fellow youngster Brahim Díaz were brought on late into the clash ahead of Raheem Sterling's winner, Foden was Touré's replacement and he stated post-match just how he thinks the youngster can go if he stays at the Etihad Stadium. 

“If he stays in this club, he is going to be one of the top players because it’s always good to learn from and be close to the big players,"  Touré stated to mancity.com about the youngster. 

“When I was at Barcelona, I learned a lot," the Ivorian said."I was lucky enough to have a chance to win trophies because of the players around me."

“It’s fantastic for him and he’s going to be the future, he's very important.

"The team keeps changing and the club are moving forward, so it’s very important [to bring players through],"  Touré added. "I hope, and I think, he will stay for a long time." 

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Very important to keep the confidence going 

It certainly wasn't a walk in the park City fans will have expected on Tuesday night, as Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side arguably put in their performance of the campaign thus far. 

However City eventually broke down the Dutch defence with Sterling's excellent effort with two minutes to play which has took their excellent start to the campaign to 19 games unbeaten. 

There has been talks of City already winning the Premier League title and possibly remaining unbeaten, such pressure won't be new for Touré as he played a part in Barcelona's 2008-09 treble winning season and he insisted that City have to "keep focused" if they are to emulate similar success. 

“It’s very important to keep the confidence going,” he said. "But we have to be careful. We have to keep focused." 

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Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.