Phil Foden and Cole Palmer are two of the biggest superstars in the Premier League right now.
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 had the pleasure of watching them every week as they put in superb performances in the biggest of games, both scoring double figures in the Premier League.
It would be a joy to be able to watch them play football every day and one man who has had that privilege with Foden and Palmer is former Man City academy coach Darren Bowman.
Bowman, who is now academy director at Lee Man FC in the Hong Kong Premier League, has helped develop both stars through several levels of City’s youth system.
“When you were dealing with these players on a daily basis, you could watch the genius for free,” he said in an exclusive chat with talkSPORT.com about the players whose development he oversaw at the academy.
“We all knew inside the club what was happening. We knew we were looking at world-class potential.
“Phil and Cole were both very small. They weren’t physically developed at all when they arrived.
“But what they didn’t have physically, their touch and their decision-making, made the difference.
“They made great decisions, they had great technique, great first touch and great awareness.”
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Bowman was lucky enough to work specifically with Foden for many years and he even joked that he saw more of the current England international than his own children.
He revealed details of the 23-year-old’s journey and gave insight into how City dealt with potential injuries due to his size.
“How good was Phil?” You really can’t describe him,” the academy coach said of the man Inter wanted to sign in their early years.
“When I was working with the U14s, we started hearing about Phil among the younger players.
“Phil was actually a year ahead and we got him into our program very early. We also started taking him on trips and tours early on for the experience.
“He was always the smallest player and he had some difficulties with his physical development because he was so light.
“Phil was such a humble kid back then, he was always with a ball, we couldn’t get him off the field. He wanted to play every minute of every game.
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“We have, however, had to manage his development alongside the sports science team, strength and conditioning team and the medical team.
“It was a big responsibility to help prevent his injuries because he was so small, but he was so talented that he had to be played!”
Bowman continued: “He had this inner conviction and this fire in him that there’s probably no surprise to him that he’s where he is.
“Acting has always been his dream. He always volunteered to be a ball boy, he never missed a session, he never missed a game.
“His mother and father, they never missed a game. They were still there. Whenever Phil went on tour, he always wanted to buy souvenirs to bring back to his family and brothers. He was always a family oriented child.
“He got better and better. Some sessions he did and some performances he used to do, it would take your breath away.
As for Palmer, he started life at Man City as a defender and stood out in the academy alongside a very talented group of players.
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Bowman admitted the Chelsea striker took a little longer than Foden to progress, but as he got older he began to flourish.
“When Cole started he played as a left-back and in smaller teams he played on the left of two at the back,” he revealed.
“He obviously progressed up the pitch as he got going, but he started from the back.
“He had an incredible left foot, great touch and awareness. If you saw him play when he was 7,8,9 years old, he was so mature for his age with his understanding of the game and his intelligence.
“His group included Tommy Doyle and James McAtee among others and it was a really special group of players at that time in the academy.
“Cole was a little slower than Phil in the younger age groups, but he took flight once he started to get a little taller.”
Foden and Palmer weren’t the only potential stars at Man City at the time, with Brahim Diaz, Jadon Sancho and Jeremie Frimpong among those also in the ranks.
However, both have thrived alongside their fellow talented youngsters, and Foden still stands out as the best according to Bowman.
He explained: “When the club brought in these type of players it helped the development of Cole and Phil. They couldn’t get comfortable, they had to up their game.
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“Brahim and Phil loved playing together. You have two little guys at the time and we would take issue with their development.
“We take them to Port Vale, play them and tell them to go take care of it. They loved this kind of challenge.
“We saw with Jadon, Brahim and everyone, that they were going to continue and play at the highest level.
“Jérémie Frimpong too. He is doing incredible things at Leverkusen now.
“I always felt Phil had something you couldn’t put your finger on. He was always above the others.
Foden was therefore the star of the academy and it was no surprise that he and Palmer progressed so quickly when you consider the caliber of players they were training with when they broke into the first team.
Bowman said: “He [Foden] There were very good people around him, of course.
“He was training with David Silva and Sergio Aguero and another lucky thing, 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 Phil, and even Cole, could have had to add the final pieces.
“When you have one of the best coaches in the world and you’re on the fringes of the first team, that’s when you get perfect timing.”
And that perfect timing has given rise to two of the Premier League and England’s biggest stars of the moment, with Foden and Palmer in incredible form.
It was their development at Man City that made them the players they are today, with Bowman deserving a lot of credit for his role.
They dominate domestically and this summer we could see them start to make waves on the international stage at Euro 2024.
