Kalvin Phillips isn’t expected to start for Manchester City in Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur, but it’s not even guaranteed that he’ll get introduced from the bench given how little he’s featured under Pep Guardiola.
The 27-year-old has made 8/25 appearances in all competitions this season, amassing just 165/2250 minutes of playing time since joining on a six-year deal from Leeds United last summer. Phillips has featured in 32% of City’s games but played 7% of the available minutes, so he’s not having a great debut campaign.
Guardiola was critical of Phillips’ weight gain after the World Cup and called him out publicly before praising his transformation, but it still doesn’t appear that he’s convinced by the England international.
Since returning from injury in November, Phillips has played in 2/7 league games, amassing 17/630 minutes on the pitch. He’s played 39/180 minutes in the FA Cup and had over an hour in their EFL Cup defeat, so appearances remain few and far between.
City refused to sell in January after three top-flight clubs showed an interest, but Rodri is a regular in midfield and Maximo Perrone can operate in the position too, so Phillips has extra competition.
For more Manchester City news and opinion, please follow our Vital Football page on Facebook – Vital Man City. Click the link and get involved!
Can you name these Man City players from the 2000s? Test your knowledge, take the quiz and challenge your friends and family to beat your score