Ferdinand believes Foden may have to leave Man City to further his career

Rio Ferdinand believes Phil Foden will need to leave Manchester City in order to get regular first-team football under his belt.

Pep Guardiola has taken the 18-year-old under his wing since arriving at the Etihad and has started to integrate Foden more into his plans.

Foden has amassed 850 minutes for City in all competitions so far this season, scoring five goals and providing five assists for his team-mates. However, the youngster is yet to start a Premier League game for the reigning  champions.

While he is starting to feature more regularly as a substitute for Guardiola, Ferdinand feels that Foden will need follow in Jadon Sancho's footsteps and leave the Etihad to further his career.

Ferdinand told talkSPORT: 'He's got great potential, but at the end of the day he needs game time. He's not going to get that at Manchester City. Jadon Sancho didn't, so that's why he left.

'He demanded regular football and decided to go to Borussia Dortmund. To be fair he's fully vindicated that decision – he's a £100m+ player now.'

Ferdinand feels there are too many people ahead of Foden in the pecking order at City and that the youngster will crave more first-team action in the near future.

'If there's an injury in midfield and they've got a big game I don't see him being the man to come in and fill the gap,' he explained.

'For instance if David Silva was out then [Ilkay] Gundogan plays there or Bernando Silva replaces him. There's no doubt Foden will improve by training with a squad of that quality, but there will come a time when he thinks to himself I want to play first-team football.

'I hope he gets the opportunity do that at Manchester City because it will be great for English football, but the circumstances would need to change.'