Fabrizio Romano has now shared what he has heard from inside Manchester City about Pep Guardiola and Kalvin Phillips.
Well, the Spaniard has handed the England international just two Premier League starts since signing him from Leeds United back in July 2022 – and is now ready to loan him out to West Ham.
That would suggest there are potential issues between Guardiola and Phillips behind the scenes, although Romano has now claimed the pair do not have a “negative” relationship.
The reliable journalist said: “Despite what’s been reported elsewhere, the relationship between Kalvin Phillips and Pep Guardiola was very good, from what I heard.
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“Phillips has always been super professional despite being often benched, Pep was happy with his behaviour. Of course there were some tense moments but it’s part of football, it always happens at big clubs, but I’m told it was not a negative relationship.”
Guardiola revealed back in December that the main reason for overlooking the Yorkshireman was due to the fact he struggles to envisage him carrying out some tactical ideas, ahead of players like Rodri.
Therefore, it sounds like it was purely a footballing problem for Phillips at the Etihad Stadium, rather than a lack of application from the 28-year-old.
If Phillips performs well at West Ham, Manchester City are ready to take a small loss on the initial £45m investment.
Florian Plettenburg of Sky Germany believes West Ham can buy the Leeds-born playmaker permanently for a sum of €40m (£34m) this summer, which represents an £11m loss for Manchester City.
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