Man City starlet Phil Foden is losing developmental race to Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho

This is, however, where the similarities end for Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho.

One, already, represents the past for the Sky Blues – Sancho departed acrimoniously during August 2017 – and the present for a European giant in Borussia Dortmund.

The other – Foden – exists concurrently as both prodigious youngster and window dressing in a star-studded squad.

Saturday’s latest half hour illustrated an earlier, and superior, exposure to meaningful minutes for Sancho.

BVB turned to the holder of their hallowed No7 jersey – inherited from France winger Ousmane Dembele upon his €105 million (Dh453.9m) switch to Barcelona – with a 1-0 defeat at Hoffenheim looming on Saturday.

Sancho would play his part in a revival which culminated with United States attacker Christian Pulisic producing an 84^th-minute equaliser.

The Watford academy product has come off the bench in all four top-flight matches this term.

He previously turned the game against Eintracht Frankfurt on September 14. An assist for wide man Marius Wolf made it 2-1, while his darting run saw the ball tackled into the path of the on-rushing replacement Paco Alcacer to lash in the third during a 3-1 victory.

In contrast, City were 4-0 up and cruising at a sodden Cardiff City when Foden was thrown on for the final 21 minutes.

He almost teed up Portugal playmaker Bernardo Silva, but had no hand in a second for Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez – a club-record £60 million (Dh288.1m) summer recruit who represents another sizeable obstacle to progress in a squad of footballing giants – to make it 5-0.

His previous eight minutes of 2018/19 Premier League action came in August 19’s dismantling of Huddersfield Town. Netherlands centre-back Terence Kongolo’s own goal made it 6-1 soon after Foden came on.

A clear disparity exists in the worth of the action these twin talents are receiving.

The callow Sancho is, regularly, challenged to make a difference. Foden is only thrown on when matches have long been won by exalted colleagues.

Sancho has registered 771 illuminating minutes across 16 Bundesliga matches in his nascent career. From these run-outs, six assists and one goal have been notched.

For Foden, this figure drops to 73 minutes from seven Premier League run-outs. He has registered one assist and no goals in the English top flight.

Even accounting for the latter’s ankle injury which kept him out from January-February, the imbalance is alarming – and illustrative.

Sancho’s growth is being accelerated by the weight of expectation.

BVB already demand wonderment from their right winger, who started last week’s 1-0 win at Club Brugge when the 2018/19 Champions League’s group stage began. This made him the seventh Englishman who debuted in the competition when at a foreign outfit.

Midfielder Foden gets to train with global superstars such as Spain’s David Silva and Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne – among many others. The knowledge they impart, plus the information which comes from enamoured head coach Pep Guardiola, holds immense worth.

After the Cardiff rout, the revolutionary Spanish tactician promised of “a lot of minutes” must ring true for Foden.

This promise pales in comparison to the experiences already stored up by his former Elite Development Squad team-mate at City.

Sancho’s increased acquaintance with the rigours of first-team football places him at a relative advantage and his exalted peer at a relative disadvantage.

Preternaturally gifted, Stockport-native Foden came away with FIFA’s Golden Ball for player of the tournament when the duo excelled in India during October 2017.

Now, the development gap has reversed.