Phil Foden has signed a new four-year contract at Manchester City that will keep him at the club until 2030, with an option to extend by a further 12 months.Foden, 26, is considered a central part of the team under new manager Enzo Maresca and discussions had been taking place since the back end of 2025.The news was exclusively revealed by The Athletic at the start of May, with Foden enlisting the help of agent Rafaela Pimenta, who also looks after City team-mate Erling Haaland, to negotiate fresh terms at the Etihad.“Committing my future to City means everything to me,” Foden said of his extension.“Playing for this club is all I’ve ever wanted to do and it’s always an honour to wear the shirt. It’s not lost on me that I’ve been lucky enough to be part of a historic period with so many titles won, but we’re always looking to the future and trying to win more.”His contract had been set to expire next summer and there had been some speculation about whether City would be in a position to commit to their academy graduate, given he was often left out of the starting line-up over the past two seasons.Foden has suffered different physical ailments and last year discussed the mental toll that a difficult season had taken on him.He did not make Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup after a second disappointing campaign, but City have put their faith in the player that first started training with the club at six years of age.Last season Foden made 50 appearances in all competitions for City and four for England over two World Cup qualifiers and two March friendlies.City have full faith in Foden despite form strugglesPre-season is a time for optimism and this announcement will go some way to kick-starting City’s preparations for the new campaign, with the club flying out to Hong Kong next week, before heading to Seoul, South Korea.After two difficult seasons for Foden, so difficult in fact that this new contract does represent something of a leap of faith, there will be hope that the midfielder has put his problems behind him and can get back to his best form.He was spectacular in the final months of the 2023-24 season and was named footballer of the year as a result, but he has only fleetingly replicated those performances since.Some of his best form came in November and December of last year, but things went downhill thereafter and he looked shorn of confidence when on the pitch, and he was regularly left out.With Foden missing out on the World Cup as a result, and City sending more players to the tournament than any other club, he will be one of relatively few first-team players available to Maresca during the trip to Asia.They play Inter in Hong Kong on Saturday, August 1 before facing K-League All Stars and Atletico Madrid in Seoul, and Foden has the opportunity to get a head start on many of his team-mates as he looks to get back to his best form.Pimenta, having negotiated the new contract, will continue to work with Foden and her services could come in handy for a player who has regularly changed representatives over the past few years. An experienced, strong presence in that area could be something that makes a difference when it comes to off-pitch matters.Foden had seemed to realise his vast potential with those fine performances at the end of 2023-24 but it has been a battle to return to those highs ever since. City have full faith that he will get there.