Kalvin Phillips might be returning to Leeds United and it’s no surprise his Manchester City career could soon come to an end.
Leeds United still have a lot of work to do in ensuring they win the Championship title and secure promotion to the Premier League but it appears they are already making moves ahead of the summer transfer window.
It’s emerged that Leeds are working on signing Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City, which would be a remarkable return to Elland Road for the midfielder.
It’s reported that Pep Guardiola has given the ‘green light’ to the move, with TeamTalk reporting Leeds have reached a ‘verbal agreement’ with Phillips.
Should the 29-year-old leave City, it would bring a disastrous three-year stint with the club to an end, though, it was already over long before after one brutal comment from Guardiola.
The Pep Guardiola comment that ended Kalvin Phillips’ Man City career
Phillips joined City in the same summer as Leeds-born Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez in 2022 as cover for midfield stalwart Rodri.
Guardiola wanted to be able to rest his crucial Spaniard more often, which led to the £42m signing of Phillips.
However, things immediately got off to a bad start when a shoulder injury ruled Phillips out of action for the first half of the season.
Guardiola voiced his frustrations about being forced to play Rodri in every match and things got even worse for Phillips before the turn of the year.
Despite playing just 54 minutes for City, Phillips recovered to make Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad and made two appearances in Qatar.
However, upon returning from the World Cup, Guardiola criticised his fitness after leaving him out of City’s first game back.
“He’s not injured. He arrived overweight. I don’t know [why],” Guardiola said in a press conference.
“He didn’t arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play.”
“That’s why he cannot play. When he will be ready, he will play, because we need him, we need him a lot.”
How Guardiola’s comments impacted Phillips
Unsurprisingly, such harsh comments from his manager invited ridicule on Phillips on social media.
So much so that Guardiola even apologised for his comments a couple of months later, saying in another press conference: “Yeah, I’m sorry. Once in eight years is not bad. But I’m so sorry. I apologise to him.
“I spoke to him before [making the comment]. I never, ever don’t speak to the team before I say something here, or the player in that case.”
But, by that point, the damage was done.
Phillips only started his first Premier League match for City once the Premier League title was already secured and played just 595 minutes in total.
Despite clearly not being fancied by Guardiola, Phillips opted to stay and fight for his place that summer. A brave decision that backfired. He made a mere 10 appearances in the following campaign before joining West Ham on loan.
Speaking in February 2024, Phillips opened up about Guardiola’s comments and how they impacted him.
“After the World Cup was probably the toughest [period], when Pep came out and said I was overweight… He was right to do so, but there are different ways to go about it,” Phillips said, via ESPN.
“I did not disagree with him but obviously I took a big knock on my confidence and how I felt at City. And my family were not happy about it, either. Especially my mum.
“It was just a misunderstanding and I think he was very frustrated with me coming back 1.5kg over my weight target.”
Should his time at City officially end this summer, it will be no surprise as it’s been over for a long time.
Thankfully, Phillips has slowly been putting his career back together at Ipswich this season and proven he could be valuable to Leeds in the Premier League.
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