Footage has emerged of a young Phil Foden criticising former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli whilst in Italy at the age of just ten years old.
Foden, who has missed City's last two matches due to Covid-19 related reasons, criticised the former Italy international's attitude during an interview with Italian TV show Qui Studio a Voi Stadio more than ten years ago.
At the time, Foden was already climbing the rungs on his career ladder at City, having joined the academy at the age of just four years old.
A lifelong, die-hard City supporter, Foden grew up watching the likes of Yaya Toure, Fernandinho, David Silva and Sergio Aguero before rubbing shoulders with them and playing alongside them.
Whilst he was applying his trade in the academy as a child, City also had Balotelli up front, a character that was never short of sparking debate or conversation, with his style of play, attitude and off-field antics frequently dominating the headlines in more ways than one.
Amazingly, footage has now been shared to social media platform Twitter of a very young Foden being asked about what he thought to Balotelli during a trip to Italy with fellow members of City's academy.
The clip showed the Qui Studio a Voi Stadio reporter asking Foden what he thought of Balotelli, to which the City midfielder star replied: "He's a good player but he's got a bad attitude off the pitch."
Foden's verdict seemed to go down well with his young team-mates, too, with some of them responding "yeah" in agreement.
After joining City from Inter Milan in 2010, the striker, who now applies his trade for Turkish outfit Adana Demirspor, joined AC Milan in 2013, before returning to England, joining Liverpool, less than a year later.
During his three-year stay at the Etihad Stadium, Balotelli made 80 appearances for the club, scoring 30 goals, as well as helping City win the FA Cup and their first-ever Premier League in dramatic fashion in 2012.
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