Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has received a clear message from Kalvin Phillips following England’s 3-1 win over Italy on Tuesday night.
The England international was named in Gareth Southgate’s starting line-up for the first time in a competitive fixture since early this year, in a damning reflection on his stagnating club career at Manchester City
Kalvin Phillips has hinted at a January exit from Man City
Despite his mishaps in the tackling department against Italy, and being substituted midway through the second-half, Kalvin Phillips put in a strong showing as England cemented their place at next summer’s European Championships in Germany.
Jude Bellingham stole the show at Wembley but Phillips, perhaps lacking match sharpness, struggled to impress.
He had to rein himself in a bit from his usual all-action style after picking up an early booking and he was then lucky to avoid a second yellow card for a foul on Giorgio Scalvini before being taken off.
And afterwards he admitted that he is desperate for more regular action to ensure he is on the plane to Germany next summer.
Speaking to Channel 4 after the decisive victory over Italy at Wembley Stadium, Phillips admitted that all he wants to do is play football competitively on the pitch – something that he has been unable to do for ‘the last year and a half’ at Manchester City.
“As a football player, you always want to be playing, and that’s the case with me,” said Phillips. “I want to be playing as much as possible and obviously I haven’t done that over the last year and a half, so that’s one thing I want to do.”
“I want minutes (at club level) and I want to go to the Euros (with England in Germany in 2024) and we’ll see what happens,” Phillips continued, in what many would see as a clear message to Pep Guardiola and Manchester City.
Kalvin Phillips is the lowest scored player in the England team with 6.5 points (according to Sofascore). Statistics show that in 70 minutes on the field, Man City players only had 41 touches of the ball, 1 Recoveries, 1 Interceptions, and only won 2/6 duel.
While Kalvin Phillips may have opted to stay at Manchester City during the recent summer transfer window, backing himself to compete for a place in Pep Guardiola’s starting line-up, his latest comments could be an indication of his current stance.
The midfielder joined the Cityzens from Leeds United in the summer of 2022 for £45m and won the treble in his first season there.
However, Phillips has made just two Premier League starts since that switch and was barely used by City boss Pep Guardiola recently despite a suspension to Rodri — and a move away in January looks likely.
There is a feeling in some quarters that Kalvin Phillips could be at the centre of widespread transfer speculation during the upcoming January transfer window, and that the player could even seek a temporary move away in search of immediate gametime.
While Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have been linked with a level of interest in Phillips, the latest information to emerge concerns Newcastle United, with sources in the north-east suggesting that St James’ Park officials would be willing to move fast in the event of the midfielder indicating a desire to move on from his time in Manchester.