Returning Kalvin Phillips has not made a good impression at Manchester City. Manager Pep Guardiola did not include the 27-year-old midfielder in his squad for the League Cup match against Liverpool (3-2) and explained why afterwards.
Phillips was still active with England at the World Cup two weeks ago, just like John Stones, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish. When the latter trio again came into action against Liverpool, Phillips was not present. “He’s not injured,” Guardiola said. “But he returned overweight,” the manager said of the midfielder.
Phillips came over from Leeds United for around fifty million euros last summer. So far, his arrival has been anything but a success story in Manchester: he only played 52 minutes for The Citizens, partly due to injuries. When he was just fit, he went to Qatar with the English national team. Once back in Manchester, he turned out not to be fit enough.
“Kalvin was not in the right condition to train or play games,” said Guardiola. “I don’t know why, but that’s why he wasn’t there. When he is ready, he will play, because we need him. We need him badly,” added the Spaniard. Guardiola did not want to say whether he is disappointed in the midfielder: “That is a private conversation between him and me.”
Injury updates
Incidentally, Guardiola also had bad news about Rúben Dias. The defender suffered a hamstring injury in his last game for Portugal at the World Cup and is currently out. On Wednesday 28 December, City will resume the Premier League with an away game against Leeds United, Phillips’ old employer.
The last we heard from the former Leeds United man was in a press conference ahead of the World Cup fixture against France. Phillips was asked to choose which of Jude Bellingham, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé he would field, bench and sell, if that situation arose.
“Oh my God,” the midfielder replied with a smile. After a short pause, he answered. “I’d draft Jude. I like Erling, but he will probably score a hat-trick as a substitute as well. I would sell Mbappé, because he would probably be the most profitable.”
