A deep dive into the making of the Premier League's latest superstars, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer

Phil Foden and Cole Palmer are currently two of the Premier League's biggest superstars.

He city ​​of manchester midfielder and his former teammate converted Chelsea talisman have both reached the best form of their lives this season.

Fans have been able to watch them every week as they perform excellent performanceHe is in the most important games, with both with double figures in goals in the Premier League.

It would be a pleasure 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 at Lee Man FC in the Hong Kong Premier League, helped develop both stars at multiple levels of City's youth system.

“When you dealt with these players on a daily basis, you could see geniuses for free,” he said in an exclusive chat with talkSPORT.com about the players whose development he oversaw at the academy.

“We all knew within the club what was happening. We knew we were looking for world-class potential.

“Phil and Cole were very little. They were not physically developed at all when they arrived.

“But what they didn't have physically, their touch and their 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 fortunate enough to work specifically with Foden for many years and even joked that he used to watch the now England international more than his own children.

He revealed details about the 23-year-old's journey and gave insight into how City handled potential injuries due to his size.

“How good was Phil? He really can’t be described,” the academy coach said of the man. Inter wanted to sign him in his first years.

“When I was working with the under-14s we started hearing about Phil in the younger age groups.

“Phil was actually a year ahead and we got him into our program early. We also started taking him on trips and tours early to get the experience.

“He was always the smallest player and had some challenges with his physical development because he was so light.

“Phil was a very humble boy at that time, he was always with the ball, we couldn't get him off the field. He wanted to play every minute of every game.

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“However, we had to manage his development alongside the sport's medical, strength and conditioning team.

“It was a big responsibility to help him prevent injuries because he was so small, but he had so much talent that you had to play with him!”

Bowman continued: “He had this inner belief and fire inside of him that he's probably not surprised to be where he is.

“It was always his dream to play. He always volunteered to be a ball boy, never missed a session, never missed a game.

“His mom and dad never missed a game. They were always there. Every time Phil went on tour, he always wanted to buy souvenirs to take back to his family and his siblings. He was always a child who prioritized family.

“He just got better and better. Some sessions he did and some performances he used to do would take your breath away.”

As for Palmer, he began his life at Manchester City as a defender and excelled in the academy alongside a group of very talented players.

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Bowman admitted that the Chelsea striker took a little longer than Foden to progress, but as he got older he began to thrive.

“When Cole started, he played as a left back and in small spaces, he played as a two-back left back,” he revealed.

“He's obviously moved up the pitch as he's gone, but he started from the back.

“He had an incredible left foot and great touch and awareness. If you had seen him play when he was 7, 8, 9 years old, he was very mature for his age with his intelligence and understanding of the game.

“Their group included Tommy Doyle and James McAtee, among others, and that 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 off as soon as he started to grow a little.”

Foden and Palmer were not the only stars to emerge at Man City at the time, with Brahim Diaz, Jadon Sancho and Jeremie Frimpong among those also in the ranks.

However, the two thrived alongside their talented young teammates, with Foden still standing out as the best according to Bowman.

He explained: “When the club signed these types of players it helped the development of Cole and Phil. They couldn't be comfortable, they had to improve their game.

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“Brahim and Phil loved playing together. You have two little ones at the time and we would challenge their development.

“We would take them to port vale and play with them and tell them to go and deal with it. They loved that kind of challenge.

“You could see with Jadon, Brahim and all of them that they were going to continue playing at the highest level.

“Jeremie Frimpong too. He is now doing incredible things in Leverkusen.

“I always felt there was something about Phil that you can't put your finger on. He was always above the rest.”

So Foden was the star in the academy and it was no surprise that he and Palmer progressed so quickly when you look at the caliber of players they were training with when they entered the first team.

Bowman said: “He (Foden) had some really good people around him, of course.

“He was training around people like David Silva and Sergio Aguero And another bit of luck, if you will, is that Pep arrived at the perfect moment in which Phil was in his development.

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“When Pep saw him and realized him, he was the best coach Phil, and even Cole, could have had to add the final pieces.

“When one of the best coaches in the world comes along and you're on the fringes of the first team, that's where you get the perfect moment.”

And that perfect timing has created two of the biggest stars in the Premier League and England right now, with Foden and Palmer in incredible form.

It is their development at Man City that has made them the players they are today, and Bowman deserves a lot of credit for his role.

They are dominating nationally and this summer we could see them start to make waves on the international stage in Euro 2024.