West Ham United push to seal late Kalvin Phillips loan as final decision update emerges
West Ham are waiting for Kalvin Phillips to make a final decision as they look to seal a late January loan deal for the Manchester City midfielder, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Italian transfer specialist reported via X [22 January] that, with Barcelona yet to make an approach for the out-of-favour Man City man, the Hammers are “pushing” to make the loan deal happen before the January window closes.
It is understood that the club are waiting for the player to decide on his destination, with West Ham very much interested in making the deal happen.
Why not?
A loan move for Phillips from Man City makes sense for all parties. Even when Rodri is unavailable, the England international is still unable to make Pep Guardiola’s starting XI.
The 28-year-old will give David Moyes a significant headache when it comes to choosing West Ham’s midfield in the second half of the season. But it will be a good headache to have.
Moyes’ midfield trio is usually comprised of Edson Alvarez, Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse. And with Soucek’s love of getting forward and into the penalty area, the latter is forced to stay back and control the tempo of the game, rather than influence it with his stunning goals and assists.
If West Ham were to land the loan signing of Phillips, his box-to-box ability would allow Ward-Prowse to stay further forward, allowing for more high-quality passes into Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus.
And Alvarez would be partnered up with a 31-time England international at the base of midfield, which would add some much-needed stability to the West Ham team moving forward, with Premier League and Europa League matches to consider.
In other West Ham news, the stance of another Premier League player who has been linked with the club has been revealed.
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