Phil Foden eyes his 16th Man City trophy with warning to Arsenal and Liverpool

Phil Foden believes winning the Club World Cup can be the springboard for another record-breaking season for Manchester City.‌

Pep Guardiola's men have hit a few bumps in the road in their bid to become the first English club to be crowned champions in four successive seasons - and the Blues could be 10 points behind leaders Arsenal when they return from the Middle East.

But City can tick another box by beating Fluminense in the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium on Friday night. Beating the Brazilian holders of the Copa Libertadores would make them the first club to lift the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, European Super Cup and Club World Cup in the same calendar year.

And Foden hopes the taste of more success will whet their appetite to retain the title.

Foden said: “If we win it then it's going to give us massive confidence - and a push that we need. We're hoping in the final that we can do well and win it for the club for the first time.

“It’s important to remember that this is our first time being here so we have to make the most of it. The lads are enjoying it and enjoying spending some time together - and we want to try and be here a few more times.

“I guess this can be a way to put thing behind us. Sometimes you have to roll your socks up and go again. It's been obviously tough recently, because we've been playing well and not getting the results up we deserved, so this has been about getting back to winning.”

There’s a more personal reason for Foden to return from the Middle East with another winner’s medal.

At the age of 23, he has already won five Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups, four EFL Cups, two Community Shield’s and the European Super Cup. He was also player of the tournament when England’s Under-17s became world champions in 2017.

Foden said: “There are times when I sit there and look back on what I’ve won and achieved. I wouldn't have done it without the manager and the team I'm playing with.

“We just want to keep going now. It's so important for the club that we put this (trophy) on the table as well.

“When you win a lot of things every year it is going to become more challenging.

“You can tell by the way teams set up against us. I'm not going to criticise how other teams play, but you can see how deep they sit and how hard it is to break them down. That's football. Teams want to beat us a lot more this year and we have to be ready for that.

“I don't think we’ll change one bit. How do I say it? The motivation is still there, the way we work every day is still there, so nothing's changed.”‌

Foden operated as a false nine at times in the 3-0 semi-final win over Urawa Red Diamonds - a formation Guardiola used to great effect before Erling Haaland arrived to add even more goals to City’s team. Haaland will play no part in the tournament as he manages a foot injury, but he will return along with long-term absentee Kevin De Bruyne in the coming weeks. Winger Jeremy Doku is also sidelined.

Foden said: “We're all looking forward to them coming back because they are three really important players for us. They're not too far away, so that’s good.

“But how we have played (in Saudi Arabia) reminds me of how we previously used to play, with a false nine. We looked right. The control was there again. Urawa never really looked like hurting us.

“I haven’t watched a lot of Fluminense, but we did watch the semi-final. They have some dynamic players, players who can hurt us. They are a really interesting team and we're looking forward to playing them.”