There was a time when Jack Wilshere was considered the future of English football.

A cultured midfielder with a continental touch, he was these shores’ answer to Andres Iniesta. Then Pep Guardiola rolled into town one day with the real Iniesta and delivered a brutal wake-up call.

“He is lucky because we have many players in the second team like him,” said the then-Barcelona manager ahead of a Champions League tie with Arsenal. It was 2011 and Wilshere was 19.

Wind the clock forward eight years and on Saturday 18-year-old Phil Foden scored his first Premier League goal to secure Manchester City three vital points against Tottenham that edged Guardiola’s side a step closer to the title.

Reminded of his Wilshere comments afterwards, the City manager made it abundantly clear Foden is a different animal.

Did you have a lot of players like him in Barca’s second team? “No,” he said. "He’s special.”

Guardiola never intended to insult a teenaged Wilshere. He is, after all, every bit a Guardiola-type player – even if an injury-plagued career ensured he never fulfilled the tremendous potential he showed when emerging from Arsenal’s academy.

Rather the point was that he was lucky to be given a platform at such a young age by Arsene Wenger when he would face so much competition at a club like Barca.

Now Guardiola has been charged with the responsibility of England’s latest hope – and has faced repeated criticism over his refusal to rush Foden’s development.

Jadon Sancho walked away from the Etihad after growing frustrated with a lack of first-team opportunities in City’s star-studded squad.

A move to Borussia Dortmund has seen him emerge as one of the brightest prospects in Europe, force his way into the England team and become an £80m transfer target for Manchester United this summer.

But just as Guardiola insisted Wilshere would struggle to hold down a place in his all-conquering Barca team then – he is adamant Foden must convince him he is worthy of more opportunities at City.

“He has to fight Fernandinho and (David) Silva,” said the Catalan. “He has to beat (Ilkay) Gundogan. He has to run and run and run to convince me he can play – but I trust him.

“I trust him a lot. From the first time I saw him. When I first landed here Txiki (Begiristain, City sporting director) told me: ‘Meet one player – he is 15, 16 years old. You have to know him.’

“And I did. After one day, two days, he came to our training session and – wow. I said, ‘You are right, Txiki – this player is good.’

“He started to train with us, him and Jadon Sancho, and that was the start of us watching him.

“With young players you have to be careful. As quick you go up, as quick you go down. Sometimes you have to handle that situation a bit, but we didn’t have any doubts.

“Every time he played he was outstanding, he was the top, he was at the level to be a Manchester City player – and it isn’t easy to be in that team. But he’s able to do that.

“He’s 18 years old and that’s why I am so satisfied. I see him in every training session and he has something special.

“And I see many players as a manager. So many, and this guy has something that is difficult to find. So he’s special, now work hard and you’ll see how far he is going.”

Foden’s diving header after five minutes secured a 1-0 win against Tottenham and had Mauricio Pochettino purring.

He believes City have unearthed the natural successor to Silva, who has begun to show signs of his 33 years catching up with him this season.

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“He’s a fantastic player, it’s not easy to play and start at a team like Manchester City,” said the Spurs manager. “It is a massive, massive achievement for him and for Manchester City. When you watch him play you can feel the quality he has.

“He’s a player that can be similar to David Silva, he has the characteristics of a number eight with a lot of good quality to play with the number nine. He can score, he can shoot, he has the capacity to read games and find space, to create openings for goals, he is a very clever player.”#

Guardiola is considering unleashing Foden on United in Wednesday’s derby at Old Trafford, with Kevin de Bruyne expected to be out with a suspected hamstring strain.

Foden was a ball boy at the Etihad when Vincent Kompany’s header against United put City on the verge of winning their first Premier League title in 2012.

Now it is Liverpool pushing them all the way and Foden believes it is a rivalry that could define Guardiola’s team.

He said: “When we won the league last time we were miles in front, but this is better because we've actually had a challenge, someone fighting with us.

“If we can do this, then people are going to have start thinking that we're one of the best teams ever.

“We've still got four difficult games left and we need to win them all, so we need to keep going. I can't see Liverpool dropping points, so I think we need to win them all.

“It's all down to us. Win all our games we win the league, so we're feeling confident and were going to give it everything, and see where it takes us.

“I couldn't be in a better team right now. Every player wants to fight for the team and we're unstoppable with that attitude."