Phil Foden believes that he is approaching somewhere close to his best but remains unsure whether that is enough to earn an England recall this week.

The Manchester City midfielder missed out on the World Cup squad and was also overlooked for the lengthy four-game September camp, having last featured for his country in March.

Foden has four goals in his previous five appearances for City ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League trip to RB Leipzig in a most encouraging spell for almost 12 months. Thomas Tuchel will announce his next squad for Nations League ties with Croatia and Spain on Friday morning.

‘I haven't really spoken to him to be honest,’ Foden said when asked if he’d held talks with Tuchel in light of improving performances.

‘Football's full of ups and downs and it's one of the things you can't control. You just have to keep putting in performances. Hopefully one day the call-up might come.’

All of Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze and Morgan Gibbs-White have been ahead of Foden in Tuchel’s pecking order at various points across the year.

Foden was sent off during the derby victory at Manchester United in September and did not play for over a month. The 26-year-old went on holiday to recharge and despite not being given a true run of starts in the Premier League, is feeling consistency returning to his game.

‘I think personally this season has gone really well,’ he added. ‘Obviously I had the unfortunate red card against United, but the break did me good. I think I came back really fresh in my mind and sharp. I've been involved in a lot of goals recently, so I've been really happy.’

City boss Enzo Maresca admitted in the summer that it is his duty to enliven Foden after two disappointing seasons and is directly pitting him against Rayan Cherki for the No 10 spot.

‘I see Phil day by day better and better for sure, 100 per cent,’ Maresca said. ‘He is going to give us many things this season.

‘We have many games in all competitions and 20 senior players, all of them very good. It's good to have competition between them. Phil and Rayan are more or less in the same position. I'm very happy in the way Phil is working every day.’

Leipzig coach Martin Demichelis, meanwhile, is relishing a reunion with Maresca.

Demichelis, a former City defender, played alongside the City boss at Malaga.

'We know each other very well and we’re almost like brothers,' said former Argentina international Demichelis.

'I know his philosophy and how he wants to play. Enzo is a winner and he’ll be looking to win trophies with Manchester City.'

Demichelis was part of the side that won the Premier League in 2014 and also featured in two League Cup triumphs.

'I had three fantastic years at Manchester City myself, but that was a long time ago,' he said. 'Being a coach is a completely different job.'

Demichelis took charge at Leipzig in the summer after previous spells at River Plate, Monterrey and Mallorca.

They are fourth in the Bundesliga, three points behind leaders Bayern Munich after a 2-0 win at Schalke on Saturday.

Their Champions League campaign has been less convincing, with 4-1 defeats to Como and Real Madrid either side of a 1-0 victory over PSV Eindhoven.

Demichelis said: 'The players needed time to get to know me, and I needed time to get to know them but we’ve played well in our last three games.'