Liverpool are believed to be eyeing a summer move for Manchester City and England midfielder Kalvin Phillips, according to an important update from reliable journalist James Pearce
The former Leeds United hero, who is now 27 years of age, moved to the Etihad last summer. Phillips’ first season as a City player proved to be an extremely frustrating one on a personal level, however, even though he was part of a team that won the treble in impressive fashion. He was limited to only two Premier League starts in the whole campaign, with a mixture of injuries and adjusting to his new club both proving to be problematic.
It remains to be seen if Pep Guardiola will retain the Englishman’s services beyond the summer transfer window, but if he is allowed to leave, he surely won’t be without suitors.
Liverpool are in the market for more midfield signings, with Fabinho and Jordan Henderson both looking highly likely to depart for Saudi Arabia in the coming days, and it looks as though the City man could be on their radar.
Taking to Twitter, Pearce named Phillips as one of a number of possible Liverpool midfield signings to replace Fabinho, as the Reds eye up further reinforcements:
‘In terms of replacing Fabinho, Moises Caicedo is not viewed as a serious option with the Brighton midfielder expected to join Chelsea. Romeo Lavia, Sofyan Amrabat, Ryan Gravenberch and Kalvin Phillips are among those under consideration.”
Phillips has enjoyed an impressive rise in recent years, becoming a regular for England at Euro 2020 and even being hailed as “superb” by Barcelona and Spain legend Xavi, who spoke of his admiration for both the City ace and Declan Rice.
While he is undoubtedly a good player while international experience – he enjoyed a 92.6% pass completion rate in the Premier League last season – there are clear negatives working against him joining Liverpool this summer.
At 27, he wouldn’t represent a younger option whose best years are definitely ahead of him, while his recent injury problems would also make him a risky purchase, at a time when the Reds have constantly been hampered by fitness issues for various midfielders, whether it be Thiago, Curtis Jones or Naby Keita, to name just a few.
Phillips, on
and shares the same agency as Ibrahima Konate, also may not come on the cheap, considering his current deal doesn’t expire until the summer of 2028, and he could bring with him an English premium, so there are ultimately too many things working against Liverpool signing him. Whether City would even want to sell to one of their biggest Premier League rivals is also a potential drawback.
Jurgen Klopp needs to be eyeing younger alternatives, with some of those mentioned in Pearce’ update making more sense, especially 19-year-old Romeo Lavia, who shone so much for Southampton last season – he averaged 2.1 tackles per match in the league in 2022/23 – and may well be seen as a much longer-term addition by the Reds.
