Former Manchester City player Joey Barton believes the club already has a David Silva replacement in the form of Phil Foden.

Barton believes that Silva leaving will be a big hole in the City squad, given his importance to the club in the past decade.

However, he does not think they have to splash out on a replacement for the attacking midfielder, as Foden can make the step up in the coming 12 months.

"He is somebody who for a long time been tipped for stardom," Fleetwood head coach Barton told Sky Sports News.

"The way Pep and the team have handled him is exceptional. They have exposed him at the right time.

"With an icon of the club in Kompany leaving, another to leave at the end of the season in David Silva - you would say City don't have a ready-made understudy for Vincent Kompany.

"[But] In Phil Foden it does look like there is a young heir to the throne. He has got a lot of work to do to get to David Silva's level. For me [Silva] has been the best player in the Premier League for a long period of time.

"But [Foden] has got all the attributes. You have clearly get the best coach in the world there. The league table - 198 points in the last two seasons attest to that.

"You will expect to see more and more of Phil Foden, certainly from January onwards as they look to groom him to take over from a legend of Man City."