Southgate opted to go to Goodison Park on Sunday to watch an array of Manchester United and Everton’s England players in action, rather than head to Wembley to see Foden and Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish, another talented young midfielder hoping to force his way into the senior reckoning.

But it is understood that Southgate is preparing to name Foden in his squad for the friendlies against Italy and Denmark at Wembley on March 27 and March 31 respectively as he starts to finalise his 23-man squad.

Foden has made 15 appearances for the England Under-21 team, who are due to compete in the Toulon tournament in France in the first two weeks of June, but has yet to be called up to the seniors.

Southgate wants players who feature regularly for their clubs and some senior City players are known to be bemused that Foden has not started games more regularly this term given his contribution when he has played and his performances in training.

But Foden hopes his Wembley exploits - where he excelled in a role on the right wing - can serve as a springboard over the remaining three months of the campaign and that with more frequent playing time for City he can also convince Southgate to take him to the Euros.

“I want to be there obviously but it’s very difficult with the players that we have there but hopefully Gareth was watching today, and hopefully he saw things that he liked so that is all I can do, just show what I can do every time I play and see where it takes me,” Foden said.

“We haven’t spoken much but he has said in a few places that he is keeping a close eye on me.”

Foden celebrated City’s success with his parents, Phil Sr and Claire, and a can of coke in The Atrium suite at Wembley on Sunday night, where Pep Guardiola and his squad stayed until around 8.30pm before returning home to Manchester to his young son, Ronnie.

With Sheffield Wednesday to face in the FA Cup fifth round on Wednesday, there was little scope for a big party but Foden described the experience as a “dream come true”.

Foden is certainly not short of self-belief, even if he admits it has been a steep learning curve at times playing alongside the likes of David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero. “Not many young players like myself could play in a team like this so it just shows the belief the manager and the players have in me which is really nice,” he said.

“You can get much better playing and learning from players like that every day. Playing on the same pitch as them at Wembley is a moment that I will never forget and they make your job easier.

“When I first went in I found it quite difficult to keep up with the speed and physicality and I was getting quite frustrated at times but as a few months went on and I started getting the hang of it, that’s when I felt comfortable and I felt like I belonged there.”

Meanwhile, Claudio Bravo - whose stunning late save to deny Bjorn Engels prevented Villa from taking the final to extra time - is thought to be weighing up an offer to join City’s sister club, New York City FC, when his contract expires at the end of the season. The Chile goalkeeper has not been offered a new deal by City because he has indicated he wants to play regularly.

If Bravo was to leave, it could raise the possibility of the United States goalkeeper, Zack Steffen, who is currently on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf in Germany from City, being drafted in as Ederson’s No. 2 next season, although he could face competition from Aro Muric, who is on loan at Nottingham Forest.