Foden came off the bench, and was later substituted, in Thursday's 2-1 win over Italy in Naples, and trained with team-mates on Saturday lunchtime.

SABC Sport understands 22-year-old Foden complained of feeling unwell that evening and was taken to hospital, where he underwent surgery on Sunday.

City confirmed it was a case of acute appendicitis and said it was "unclear at this stage how long he will be unavailable for" but that he would "not be fit" for next weekend's Premier League match against Liverpool.

England boss Gareth Southgate said after Sunday evening's 2-0 victory over Ukraine at Wembley: "With Phil, over the last 48 hours, he was having symptoms and our doctor got a little bit more concerned (on Saturday afternoon) as that started to become more apparent what it could be.

"So thankfully he was in a good position to see a specialist and be operated on (on Sunday morning).

"But obviously that's a huge disappointment for him and for us because he's had a few camps where he's had injury or just things haven't worked out.

"On the back of the World Cup we were hoping to see (more of him), but he's also been suffering with his foot injury and I think this hopefully could clear that up at the same time."

SOUTH AFRICAN FOOTBALLERS PLAYERS UNION

Kholosa Biyana celebrates being the first SAFPU female vice president

Editors Pick