Pep Guardiola pulled no punches when speaking about the condition of Kalvin Phillips, calling the 27-year-old ‘overweight’ and saying he was left out of Manchester City’s 3-2 win over Liverpool due to his poor condition.
Phillips has been tasked with losing weight to get himself back into the side, but it remains to be seen if he’ll be ready to face his former club on Wednesday when City travel to Elland Road to play Leeds United.
The England international has endured a debut season from hell in Manchester, spending most of the campaign sidelined with injury while being an unused substitute when fit. Phillips joined for £44.1m over the summer but has gone on to make just four appearances in all competitions.
He was given a surprise call-up to England’s World Cup squad for the 2022 tournament in Qatar but played just 40 minutes in total. While embarrassing to have one’s weight called out by a manager, Phillips’ situation may just be down to his lack of activity for club and country.
It shouldn’t take him long to get back into shape and then he should be considered for selection. But considering he’s injury-free and wants to challenge Rodri for a starting place at City, it’s not the best message to send to your manager.
In other news, Chris Sutton says Man City won’t repeat transfer decision
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