England ace On a £14-a-day angling getaway on the outskirts of the Cotswolds, Phil Foden demonstrates his populist credentials.
The £200,000-a-week Manchester City player skipped exotic locales popular with his Three Lions teammates to spend five days fishing with his father for carp, catfish, tench, pike, and perch.
5Phil Foden snubbed a major trip abroad for a £14-a-day angling holiday on the edge of the Cotswolds
An onlooker at Linear Fisheries in Witney, Oxfordshire, said: “Phil was happy as Larry camping out in a cheap tent,
“He was so down to earth and was just hell-bent on trying to land himself a carp as the lake has some absolutely enormous ones in it.
“While his England pals were living it up in posh hotels next to beaches, the most luxurious thing Phil had on his holiday was a Portaloo.”
Foden, 24, was cooling down after the Euros before rejoining the City squad to prepare for the new season.
He is an ardent angler who has boasted about his impressive catches on Instagram.
Foden started fishing with his dad, Phil Senior, as a boy and said previously: “It’s the perfect hobby to rest your legs and have some down time.
“Probably about 95 per cent of the football lads don’t enjoy it.
“The odd one likes fishing, so when people find out they say: ‘what a weird sport to enjoy’. They don’t understand why you enjoy it.
“Obviously, they need to go and try it. I think it’s the perfect hobby to rest your legs and have some down time.”
Foden has published some of his best catches on social media from excursions to lakes across the UK and Spain, where he caught his biggest capture yet, a 130-pound catfish.
Prior to flying to Germany for the Euros, Foden took a break in the sun, visiting Marbella, Spain, in June with his girlfriend Rebecca Cooke.
Rebecca gave birth to their third child during England’s campaign for the final, and Foden returned home to be with her.
The couple already has a five-year-old son, Ronnie, and a one-year-old daughter, True, but they have not revealed the name of their new baby.
5Foden playing for England during the Euros this summerCredit: AFP
5The Man City ace with a fine catch