Midfielder has joined Sheffield United on loan after making just four starts for City since 2022
These days there is very little said about Kalvin Phillips. In another universe there might have been plenty to say about him.
Manchester City are one of the key pieces of the Premier League’s content machine. Think and you might realise you know plenty of things about City that you don’t really need to know. You don’t need to know what Pep Guardiola’s favourite meal is. You don’t need to know what problems he had in his marriage, why he moved out, why he attended an Oasis concert in his free time.
Or another example: City are interminably good. Their business in the transfer market is impossibly astute. Anyone they sign comes in and becomes one of the best footballers in the world. That is of course, assuming we ignore the Jack Grealishes, the Kalvin Phillipses of this universe.
We don’t hear about Phillips now, but if he had succeeded at City, he would no doubt have formed part of that unceasing, unabating production of viral content.
One of England’s hottest talents moved from Leeds to Manchester in 2022 in a deal worth £42m. But since then he has made only four starts for City, playing a total of 32 games.
Guardiola practically played the role of the clichéd popular jock in an American television show, when he essentially called Phillips fat and told him to stay away from the coolest club in town.
“He’s not injured,” Guardiola said at the time. “He arrived overweight. I don’t know [why]. He didn’t arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play. That’s why he cannot play.”
Phillips has since gone on loan to West Ham, where he played 10 games, and to Ipswich Town, where he played 22 games. None of those moves approached what could possibly be classified as successful.
In fact his first game for West Ham was emblematic of what a difficult time he has had. With just his second touch, he committed an error that was punished by Dominic Solanke, forcing West Ham to play on the back foot the entire game.
Phillips has now joined Sheffield United in the Championship on loan until the end of the season. Why has he had such a big fall since moving to Champions League level in 2022? It is difficult to say.
Sometimes it does feel like a throw of the dice. Other times factors like injury, confidence, adaptation play different roles impossible to measure.
Phillips still has two years left on his contract at City. His time there is not done. Although he was 26 when he moved to the Etihad, and he is now 30 and with just a few years left to salvage something in his career. But where he will be attempting to do it is a symbol of just how wrong things have gone for the England midfielder.
