Man City have played without a recognised striker for quite a while now.
Sergio Aguero only featured in 12 league games last season while Gabriel Jesus (£4.4m) was often deployed in one of the wide positions, a transformation that has continued this term.
Pep Guardiola has used a rotating cast of false nines for almost a year with Kevin De Bruyne (£5.8m), Bernardo Silva (£2.8m) and Phil Foden (£5.5m) taking turns to lead the line, often within the same game.
The latter’s performances up front have been particularly interesting as the youngster was touted as the long-term replacement for David Silva when he first burst onto the scene.
Foden is more than capable of playing in midfield, as evidenced by his passing masterclass for England against Andorra, but he has sparkled in the more advanced roles in Guardiola’s front three.
The 21-year-old scored 16 goals in all competitions last season – only Ilkay Gundogan (£3.8m) scored more.
And Foden has wasted no time since returning from injury this term, scoring four goals in 570 minutes of action.
After the much-discussed failed pursuits of Harry Kane (£7.8m) and Cristiano Ronaldo (£7.7m), Man City are still without an out-and-out striker but they remain one of Europe’s highest-scoring teams nonetheless.
Somebody’s got to be their top scorer this season – why not Foden?
A brace against Brighton at the weekend made the England international his club’s top scorer in the league for 2021/22.
What’s become apparent as Foden has continued to flourish is that he does not merely specialise in playmaking – he also has the attributes of a goalscorer.
He’ll probably never be an outright poacher but as long he continues to shoot as often as he does now, he is likely to reach double figures each year he avoids serious injury.
Dream Team gaffers will hope to see Foden continue as City’s primary goal threat because he’s producing a lot of points in current form.
He’s racked up 45 points since Game Week 5 and he’s averaged 10.67 points in each of the last three Game Weeks.
Despite missing the start of the campaign as he recovered from injury, Foden is now Dream Team’s seventh-best midfielder – he’s even got more points than team-mate Jack Grealish (£4.5m).
And that’s a notable stat since the former Aston Villa playmaker appears in 37.4% of teams while Foden’s ownership sits at a very modest 5%.
City’s No47 will surely be one of the most widely-recruited assets over the next few weeks.