Kalvin Phillips to West Ham United hits the rocks as player wants to stay at Manchester City
Kalvin Phillips has no intention of leaving Manchester City this summer, putting a move to West Ham United firmly on the back-burner.
The former Leeds midfielder has made just two starts for Pep Guardiola’s side in his first season at the club, leading many to believe he could leave for more regular football ahead of next summer’s European Championships with England.
But according to The Telegraph (5 June), Phillips is eager to work on winning the trust of his manager and making it work at The Etihad, meaning West Ham and Newcastle United are unlikely to get a deal done this summer.
“Telegraph Sport understands that Phillips does not want to give up on City and wants to challenge himself to succeed under Pep Guardiola,” they wrote.
Move on
With Declan Rice all but certainly on the move this summer, replacing him in central midfield has to be the number one priority for West Ham.
But Phillips is very much a David Moyes target considering they made a bid for him while he was still at Leeds, and it’s possible that any new manager may not want him.
Moyes’ future at the club is far from secure with talk he could be sacked if they lose the Europa Conference League final to Fiorentina, and even if we win it he could leave with Celtic reportedly interested in his services.
A new manager will likely want to bring in their own targets and have their own ideas of how to replace Rice, and now that we know Phillips isn’t interested anyway there’s no reason to hang around.
Move on to other targets and try to get business done as quickly as possible to avoid missing out or falling short of what we need.