Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has hailed youngster Phil Foden, claiming that his performance against Manchester United "was on another level".
The 17-year-old was given a chance to shine in the Citizens' first outing on their pre-season tour of the United States, playing 74 minutes of the 2-0 defeat in Houston.
Foden was City's star performer on the night, proving a real nuisance in attack but failing to find a breakthrough goal, and Guardiola has suggested that the playmaker will now continue to train with the first team.
"I don't have words - I would like to have the right words to describe what I saw," he told reporters. "You are the lucky guys who saw the first game, for the first team for Manchester City, of this guy.
"It's a long time since I saw something like this. His performance was another level. He's 17-years-old, he's a City player, he grew up in the academy, he loves the club, he's a City fan and for us he's a gift.
"He will stay with us training with us in the pre-season and maybe he'll stay with us in season because he's special."
Foden has been at City since Under-9s level, becoming the third-youngest player in the club's history to be named in the senior matchday squad when he was among the subs for last season's meeting with Celtic.
No Data Analysis info