Injury Expert reacts as West Ham United want to sign Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips
We’re delighted to welcome injury expert Dr Rajpal Brar as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the injury situation at West Ham...
West Ham must be careful about signing Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips this summer due to a few conditions, claims Dr Rajpal Brar.
The injury expert believes that his hamstring and shoulder setbacks are not all that frightening as football is a contact sport and these things end up happening.
However, he’s more concerned about how he showed up to pre-season ahead of the 2022/23 season which led to Pep Guardiola saying he’s overweight and also the fact that he barely featured in their treble winning campaign.
Claret and Hugh reported in June that while Phillips wants to stay at City, a transfer to the London Stadium cannot be ruled out.
Speaking exclusively with West Ham Zone, Brar, a specialist in Physical Therapy and Sports Scientist, said, “His injury issues – in and of themselves – don’t frighten me off that much.
“He picked up a hamstring injury which could potentially be attributed to overuse whether it’s cumulative from Bielsa’s playing style and training style and the shoulder injury was contact based which happens in a contact sport.
“However, the concern would firstly be the fact that he hasn’t played much in the past one and a half years due to injuries and not being able to get into Manchester City’s incredible side.
“That lack of match time leads to fitness deficits and increased risk. Secondly, and perhaps more concerningly, he came into pre-season with Manchester City not in the best shape which may have contributed to him not playing much.
“If that mentality hasn’t been sorted then it’s a major red flag.“
Manchester City looked to be signing a player nearing the top of his game after his impressive performances for Leeds United and England at EURO 2020.
However, injuries and his fitness derailed his progress and he struggled to get game time off the bench for Guardiola’s side.
Despite this, Gareth Southgate picked him for the Three Lions side in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Thus far, no decision has been made by Guardiola or City about the midfielder’s future.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers are already preparing to cash in on the Declan Rice money as they hold a transfer meeting in London as they’re confident of sealing a £50million signing.