Graeme Souness reacts as West Ham United sign Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City
Graeme Souness believes Kalvin Phillips has much to prove at West Ham United after his confirmed transfer at the London Stadium on Friday.
The Hammers confirmed the signing (26 January) of the Manchester City midfielder on a temporary loan deal until the end of the season.
The 28-year-old leaves the Etihad on a temporary basis due to his limited minutes under Pep Guardiola this season and there is believed to be no option for West Ham to sign him permanently in the summer.
The Irons will pay a loan fee and cover Phillips’ full salary for the duration of his time at the London Stadium.
Souness, taking to his column for Mail+ (26 January) shared that the Englishman was never going to force Rodri out of the team at the Etihad but now he can take charge of his own destiny in East London.
He said: “Kalvin Phillips has made 65 appearances in the Premier League in his career. For me, he still has it all to prove as a top player.
“He’s 28 years old and yet his top-flight experience, really, is two seasons at Leeds, and he spent a large period of the second one injured.
“Just because he signed for Manchester City for £42million does not mean you’re the real deal. People might say he’s got 31 England caps, but most of their games are against fairly weak opposition. You prove your worth in the Premier League and Phillips has a lot to prove.
“It became very clear, very quickly that he would not get much game-time at City. Rodri is the best holding midfielder in the Premier League, so he was never going to force him out, and Pep Guardiola has made it as plain as possible that he’s not part of his plans.
“Now he’s gone to West Ham on loan it’s over to him. Can he play week in, week out and be a 7/10, minimum, every week? Do that and we’ll revisit whether he’s a proper player or not.”
He can do it
Of course, Phillips has much to prove upon his move to West Ham this week and there’s a case to argue he made the wrong decision joining the Premier League champions rather than the East Londoners after Moyes was interested before he left Leeds.
A loan deal for the Englishman makes perfect sense for all parties involved given his limited minutes at the Etihad Stadium.
When he moved to the Premier League champions, it was always going to be hard to establish himself there with the world’s best defensive midfielder Rodri dominating the same position Phillips enjoys.
Phillips can now get his career back on track in East London and once and for all prove that he has what it takes to reach the levels he expected when he departed Elland Road.
People forget that Phillips is an established international for England and gets picked even when he hasn’t played much at club level, which tells all you need to know how highly he is regarded in this country.
The 28-year-old is just the player Moyes needs and is a stark upgrade on his defensive midfield options but could prove a dominant and immovable midfield force with summer signing Edson Alvarez. A fantastic deal for all parties involved.
In other West Ham news, a first-teamer has reportedly received offers to leave London Stadium this month.
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