THE first time Kalvin Phillips spoke to the media as a Manchester City player, the task ahead of him was clear. How can he hope to get minutes ahead of Rodri?
He insisted he could play alongside Rodri, rather than instead of him.
Eighteen months later, and Phillips is staring at an exit from City after just 31 appearances for the club, of which just six have been starts, at an average of under half an hour per appearance. He is unlikely to reach the 1,000-minute mark in sky Blue, and City have paid £46,000 per minute he has played. Or £1.35m per appearance.
Phillips may well be overlooked for the FA Cup visit of Championship strugglers Huddersfield on Saturday. With a January exit increasingly likely, the risk of injury or cup-tying the midfielder far outweighs the benefits of playing him.
So what has gone wrong for the £42m man who was meant to be a long-term solution in the midfield and took Vincent Kompany’s number four shirt?
Phillips’ City career didn’t get off to a good start when he missed the grand unveiling of the summer’s four signings – including Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez – because he picked up Covid.
Phillips featured in that pre-season but was used more at center-back rather than midfield owing to injuries and absences in the defensive ranks in the US. If pre-season was a chance to show his qualities in midfield, circumstance dictated that he couldn’t.
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