De Bruyne has been ruled out for up to four months having picked up a knee injury in training yesterday.
This has opened up a regular spot in the pivotal playmaker’s role for the English champions.
And the legendary striker believes De Bruyne’s injury is Foden’s chance to show his boss what he can do at the top level.
The 18-year-old Englishman is thought to be a part of manager Pep Guardiola’s plans for this season.
Writing on his latest Coral blog, Shearer said: “Losing Kevin De Bruyne for a large part of the season is going to be a big blow for Manchester City as he is one of the best players in the Premier League.”
“Along with Mo Salah, he was the standout star of last season.
“De Bruyne’s absence might be good news for Phil Foden.
“He played in the Community Shield earlier in the month and he looked completely at home at that level.”
Foden made a handful of appearances for City last season, mostly off the bench, and will be hoping to get more of a look in this time out.
His trophy collection is already building following a successful year.
Having made five Premier League appearances, he became youngest ever Premier League winner at just 17 years and 350 days old.
The midfielder also has a World Cup winners medal along with a Golden Ball, having starred in England U17’s tournament success in India in 2017.
But he won’t have it all his own way, with City’s enormous squad depth sure to provide Foden with heavy competition for the available slot.
And Shearer believes the Manchester club are well equipped to deal with such an important loss in De Bruyne.
He wrote: “However, if there is one team that can cope with losing a player of his ability, it is Manchester City as they have a lot of quality in their ranks.
“They have a lot of depth in midfield with the two Silvas, Fernandinho and Riyad Mahrez,” he added.
“That is why they went out and spent £65 million on Mahrez, as there is always the chance of an injury to a key player.
“They wouldn’t have expected it to happen so soon in the season but now they have the cover to deal with it.”
De Bruyne came on off the bench to replace Mahrez in City’s 2-0 win over Arsenal last Sunday following a busy summer at the World Cup.
It was thought he would return to the starting XI for City’s fixture against Huddersfield on Sunday.