EXCLUSIVE
Phil Foden and Cole Palmer are currently two of the Premier League’s biggest superstars.
The Manchester City midfielder and his former teammate-turned Chelsea talisman have both hit the form of their lives this season.
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Fans have been treated to watching them each week as they put in superb performances in the biggest of games, with both in double figures for goals in the Premier League.
It would be a joy to be able to watch them play football every day and a man who has had that privilege with both Foden and Palmer is former Man City academy coach, Darren Bowman.
Bowman, who is now academy director for Lee Man FC in the Hong Kong Premier League aided the development of both stars throughout multiple levels of the City youth system.
“When you were dealing with these players on a daily basis, you got to watch genius for free,” he said in an exclusive chat with talkSPORT.com about the players whose development he oversaw in the academy.
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“We all knew inside the club what was coming through. We knew we were looking at world-class potential.
“Phil and Cole were both very tiny. They weren’t physically developed at all when they were coming through.
“But what they didn’t have in physicality, their touch and decision-making was the difference.
“They made great decisions, they had great technique and first touch and they had great awareness.”
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Bowman was lucky enough to work with Foden specifically for many years and he even quipped that he used to see the now England international more than his own kids.
He revealed details on the 23-year-old’s journey and gave an insight into how City managed potential injuries due to his size.
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“How good was Phil? You really can’t describe it,” the academy coach said of the man Inter wanted to sign in his early years.
“When I was working with the U14s we started to hear about Phil in the younger age groups.
“Phil was actually a year ahead and we put him into our programme early. We started to take him on trips and tours early as well for the experience.
“He was always the smallest player and he had some challenges with his physical development as he was so light.
“Phil was such a humble kid at the time, he was always with a ball, we couldn’t get him off the pitch. He wanted to play every minute of every game.
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“We had to manage his development alongside the Sports Science, Strength and Conditioning and medical team though.
“It was a big responsibility to help his injury prevention because he was so small, but he was so talented that you had to play him!”
Bowman continued: “He had this inner belief and fire inside him that there is probably no surprise to him that he is where he is.
“It was always his dream to play. He was always volunteering to be a ballboy, he never missed a session, he never missed a game.
“His mum and dad, they never missed a game. They were always there. Whenever Phil went away on tours, he’d always want to buy souvenirs to take back to his family and his brothers. He was always a family-first kid.
“He just got better and better. Some sessions that he did and some performances he used to pull off, it’d take your breath away.”
As for Palmer, he began life at Man City as a defender and stood out in the academy along with a very talented group of players.
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Bowman admitted the Chelsea forward took a bit longer than Foden to progress but that as he got older, he began to thrive.
“When Cole started, he played as a left back and in the small-sided stuff, he’d play the left of two at the back,” he revealed.
“He’s obviously moved himself up the pitch as he’s gone but he started at the back.
“He had an amazing left foot and a great touch and awareness. If you’d have seen him play when he was 7,8,9, he was so mature for his age with his game understanding and intelligence.
“His group included Tommy Doyle and James McAtee among others and that was a real special group of players at that time in the academy.
“Cole was a bit more of a slow burner than Phil in the younger age groups but he flew as soon as he started to grow a little bit.”
Foden and Palmer weren’t the only eventual stars coming through at Man City at the time, with Brahim Diaz, Jadon Sancho and Jeremie Frimpong among those also in the ranks.
The two thrived alongside their fellow talented youngsters, though, and Foden still stood out as the best according to Bowman.
He explained: “When the club brought in these types of players, it helped the development of Cole and Phil. They couldn’t be comfortable, they had to up their game.
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“Brahim and Phil loved playing with each other. You’ve got two little guys at the time and we would challenge their development.
“We’d take them away to Port Vale and play them and tell them to go and deal with it. They loved that type of challenge.
“You could see with Jadon, Brahim and all of them, that they were going to go on and play at the highest level.
“Jeremie Frimpong, too. He’s doing amazing things in Leverkusen now.
“I always felt Phil had something that you can’t put your finger on. He was always above the rest.”
So Foden was the star in the academy and there was no surprise that he and Palmer progressed so quickly when you look at the calibre of players they were training with as they entered the first team.
Bowman said: “He [Foden] had really good people around him, of course.
“He was training around the likes of David Silva and Sergio Aguero and another bit of luck, if you like, is that Pep arrived at the perfect time for where Phil was in his development.
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“When Pep saw him and was made aware of him, he was the best coach that Phil, and even Cole, could have had to add the final pieces.
“When you get one of the best coaches in the world turn up and you are on the fringe of the first team, that’s where you get some of the timing that’s perfect.”
And that perfect timing has created two of the Premier League and England’s biggest stars at the moment, with both Foden and Palmer in incredible form.
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It’s their development at Man City that has made them the players they are today, with Bowman deserving a lot of credit for his role.
They’re dominating at domestic level and this summer, we could see them begin to make waves on the international stage at Euro 2024.