Football
Club interest in Kalvin Phillips is growing. Will he want to leave Manchester City?
The story of Kalvin Phillips at Manchester City has taken a direction no one expected from the start. The Englishman sits on the bench and rarely comes on. He had the opportunity to leave in the summer and will have another in the winter.
The story of Kalvin Phillips at Manchester City has taken a direction no one expected from the start. The Englishman sits on the bench and rarely comes on. He had the opportunity to leave in the summer and will have another in the winter.
At the age of twenty-six, Phillips decided to leave Leeds United and go on an adventure with Pep Guardiola’s team. Manchester City were far from the only team interested in the Englishman, with several other options in play. The amount eventually reached almost 50 million euros.
Already during the summer training, not only Citizens fans were left in shock. Pictures and videos began to circulate on the internet, in which Phillips is heavily overweight and struggling with his body. The question remains whether he neglected his lifestyle or the fault lay elsewhere. We’ll probably never get an answer.
Of course, that’s where what came next began to unfold. The Englishman rarely came on, and when he did it was only for the final few minutes. Right from the start of the season came a shoulder injury that sidelined him for 2 months. Of course, the enforced break didn’t do him any good either. Instead of getting in shape, he had to skip training.
For the whole 2022/23 season he played exactly 593 minutes, so less than 7 full games. Despite that, he was nominated for the World Cup in December and for the qualifying matches. The situation was not understood by fans in the same way as Harry Maguire, who didn’t play for Manchester United as time went on, but was still a building block of the national team.
During the summer there was already speculation that Phillips would leave the Citizens, it didn’t happen. The player himself decided to stay and fight for his place. However, the situation hasn’t changed and history is repeating itself, so far he has played just 167 minutes, less than 2 games and is once again nominated for the England national team. Judge for yourselves if your mind is not left hanging over this.
When Rodri got a red card against Nottingham, it was expected that Phillips might get a chance to start in his place. Rodri missed the game against Arsenal and against Wolves, neither game Manchester City could win. Phillips played just 25 minutes in those two games against Wolves, he didn’t even start the Arsenal game. When else should he start, other than when a key figure at defensive midfielder is missing?
The midfielder is in demand in the Premier League despite not playing football for almost a year and a half. Everton and Newcastle are among the teams interested. Each is in a different situation.
Source: Transfer News Life, Manchester City, Premier League