It is time to believe the hype. Phil Foden is the player we hoped he would be, and hopes are now high in England that he can do for their national side, this summer, what Paul Gascoigne did in the World Cup at Italia 90.

But it is not just Gascoigne who Foden can be compared to. His gift is far greater than that. When he glides over the grass, sending defenders one way while he goes the other, the ball attached to feet so quick they are a blur, it is Lionel Messi that comes to mind.

Foden has done nothing compared to the Barcelona legend, and no one would argue his output is anywhere near that of the Argentinian. But when it comes to that one single facet of his game – dribbling – the technique and style are similar.

Aside from being very left-footed, Messi and Foden share a low centre of gravity and a surprising capacity to accelerate over short distances. Like Messi, Foden is extremely hard to unbalance and has the agility to slip and sway away from defenders, like a boxer escaping the ropes.

They both use their diminutive stature to their advantage, with quick changes of direction, but the most striking technical similarity, and the thing that separates Foden from most players, is the ability to receive the ball on the back foot. Also referred to as taking the ball on the half-turn, Foden loves to let the ball run across his body to his left foot while side-on to the opposition goal. This allows him to turn the attack forward with an economy of effort.

Other players, perhaps anxious to control the ball and protect it from a defender, will take a touch with their “front foot” (the one nearest the passer), forcing them backwards or sideways.  

Once the ball is under their spell, it is the sheer number of touches Messi and Foden take – and the speed of them – that makes life so difficult for defenders. Defenders get drawn into tackles, mesmerised and then tricked. They can sometimes look favourites to win the ball, before a lightning-quick touch lays the ball off or beats them. It is a skill based on intuition and pin-point timing.

And whether it is close-range passing and moving or long-range spreading of the play, Foden brings others into the game. He is a scorer, with 14 goals this season, and a creator, with 10 assists. Against Paris St Germain, Foden played a key role in both City goals. He scored the one that clinched the win over Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-final, too.

But perhaps the thing that allows us to be even more excited about Foden is that he has Gascoigne’s gifts, but seemingly without the flaws.

He has been moulded at City –and the English Football Association to an extent – into a player who can adapt to the role he is asked to fill and he has been impeccably handled by Pep Guardiola, who had seen the way Barcelona nurtured Messi and brought that approach to City.

Foden was brought into the side and taken out. He was criticised in a paternal way. He has not been overexposed. He has been given the time and space to learn how to perform as part of a team.

Foden was reported to have grown a little frustrated, but Guardiola knew exactly what he had and what he could be. Now we no longer have to talk about potential or question whether he is ready.

Wayne Rooney was even younger than Foden when he got his homeland excited, making his full England debut when he was just 17, three years younger than Foden is now. Rooney was special in his own right, but he was not the same player at 28 as he was at 18.

There are a myriad of reasons for that, but perhaps the main one was Rooney had played four full seasons by the time he was 20.

Foden has been protected from that and now his understanding of the game and life goes hand in hand with his talent. Foden’s challenge is to turn what he has into a long and successful career, for club and country. That is what the greats do.