‘That’s a no no’… Chris Sutton says 28-year-old has ‘no excuse’ for what he did after leaving Leeds United

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Kalvin Phillips has endured a really tough time of it since leaving Leeds United back in the summer of 2022.

Phillips joined Manchester City in a £42 million deal and although he was part of their treble-winning squad, from a personal point of view it has not been easy.

The 28-year-old, who is now on loan at West Ham United, made just two Premier League starts in 18 months at City, both of which came after they had already been crowned Champions.

However, perhaps the toughest part of his time at the club came just after the World Cup in Qatar. After returning from a quick holiday, Pep Guardiola claimed publicly that Phillips was overweight, something which he has finally since responded to.

Both Phillips and his family were less than impressed with Guardiola’s comments, but speaking on the latest episode of BBC 5Live’s Monday Night Club, pundit Chris Sutton has little sympathy for the former Leeds man.

Sutton has no sympathy for Phillips

He said: “What I would say is that you come out and admit you are overweight, whether it’s by a pound or whatever it is, and you are upset about that. But he shouldn’t have been overweight in the first place, you are a professional athlete.

“He talked very honestly and was candid, but I’m telling you as a professional athlete that’s a no no. He’s gone from Leeds United to Man City, that’s a level up, it’s elite and to win big trophies. There’s no excuse for that.”

It is not the first time Phillips is said to have returned from a major tournament ‘overweight’, as he also did the same after the EUROs in 2021 which saw Marcelo Bielsa bench him for Leeds’ opening day trip to Manchester United.

That said, Bielsa was able to keep that under wraps about Phillips and perhaps Guardiola should’ve done the same considering the mocking that has since followed. He has apologised since, however.

It has been clear from that moment onwards that Phillips has seriously been lacking in confidence on the pitch, and that has certainly spilled over in his start to life at West Ham.