Kalvin Phillips moved to Sheffield United on loan on deadline day having made just one substitute appearance for Manchester City this season.
Kalvin Phillips has opened up on his Manchester City exit after sealing a loan move to Sheffield United on deadline day. The former Leeds midfielder has failed to make an impact since his 2022 move to the Etihad.
Illness and injury saw Phillips get off to a bad start at City and he was later criticised by Pep Guardiola for returning from a break after the 2022 World Cup ‘overweight’. Phillips had made just one appearance for City this season before completing a temporary switch to the Blades, coming on as a late substitute in the Carabao Cup third round win over Huddersfield Town.
Phillips has revealed he received a text message from Sheffield United striker Patrick Bamford, whom he played alongside at Leeds, about a possible move to the Championship club. Having initially rejected the idea, the City midfielder eventually decided that the game time on offer at the second-tier club would make it the best move for his career.
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“It was early December. Obviously I was thinking of going out on loan and Pat (Bamford) text me and said Chris has asked me to message to see what you think about coming here for a few games,” Phillips told Sky Sports. “At first I was a bit like ‘I don’t know’, but the more I thought about it, I thought ‘why not?’. It’s not going to harm me in any way, it’s not going to do anything to my confidence, I want to play as many games as possible.
“If I’d gone to a Premier League team it would have taken me a bit longer to get into the team and they have less games and I just want to play as many games as possible.”
Asked about his struggles at City, Phillips said: “Any player that’s been in my situation, I think they will say that not playing has been one of the major reasons for a dip in their career or whatever.
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“I just feel like staying idle, like, so many players have done it where they’ve stayed at the club for so long and not played and their career has fizzled out. I don’t want that to happen.
“I just felt like, for me, I’ve still got some life in me, I’ve still got some football in me to play and I’m looking forward to the next three or four years.”
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Phillips has made two appearances for the Blades since his mid-season switch, coming on as a substitute in a defeat to Middlesbrough before being handed his first start of the season in a 1-0 victory over Portsmouth.