Kalvin Phillips: Can Man City and England's forgotten man ever get his career back on track?

It might have seemed like a small detail at the time, but with hindsight one could say that Phillips' time with City was doomed from the start. He was too ill to attend his presentation in front of fans along with the other new arrivals, including Erling Haaland, in the summer of 2022, and he did not have the best introduction to the coaching staff either. 

According to The Athletic, Guardiola and his assistants noted that Phillips struggled to understand the role of being City's holding midfielder and they quickly concluded that the recently departed youth academy player Romeo Lavia, then 18, would have been a better fit.

Phillips made his first appearance for City in a pre-season friendly against Club America in the unfamiliar position of centre-back, replacing Nathan Ake at half-time. He got 21 minutes in the next game against Bayern Munich, this time in midfield, and when the season began, he played a grand total of one minute across City's three opening Premier League matches. 

Phillips made his first City start in an August friendly against Barcelona, but that was when his problems truly began as he injured his shoulder, aggravating a long-running issue. The only solution was to undergo surgery, meaning he missed the next 10 matches, only returning to the matchday squad for the final game before the season paused for the World Cup.

Phillips was still selected by England for the tournament in a call that emphasised how highly he was still regarded by Sir Gareth Southgate, and he made two appearances in Qatar. However, when he returned to Manchester, he was given a shock.

Guardiola didn't pick him for the Carabao Cup tie against Liverpool that kicked-off domestic action following the World Cup, and when asked why in the press conference, the coach gave a surprisingly strong response: "He's not injured, he arrived overweight."

Those comments plagued Phillips for years. "That narrative on social media just grew and grew," he told former Leeds team-mate Patrick Bamford. "Every club that I’d go to, I spoke to, like the manager and the nutritionist and stuff like that, they’d always speak about weight before they’d say anything else. And it got to the point where it peed me off a little bit. I was getting quite frustrated with it."

Phillips was a bystander during City's run to the treble in his first season at the club as he started just two Premier League games, both after they had already wrapped up the title. His second season was even more miserable as he played just 89 minutes of Premier League football across four substitute appearances. 

Again, the writing was on the wall from the start as City signed not one holding midfielder but two, first bringing in Mateo Kovacic and then Matheus Nunes in the summer of 2023. Phillips, who was already struggling to get any game time while competing with the un-droppable Rodri, was now very clearly fourth choice in his position. 

His first start of the campaign in the Carabao Cup against Newcastle ended in a 1-0 defeat, while his only other starts were in meaningless Champions League group games after City had qualified for the knockout stage. He did manage to score his only goal for the club, however, netting from the penalty spot against Red Star Belgrade.

When Guardiola was asked why he used Phillips so sparingly, he gave a damning explanation: "It’s just because I visualise some things and visualise the team and I struggle to see him. I feel so sorry for my decision for him. I’ve said that many times. He doesn’t deserve what has happened to him and I’m so sorry." 

Having turned down the chance to leave City on loan in the summer of 2023, Phillips took the opportunity to get more game time in January 2024, moving to West Ham. But instead of turning his career around in east London, he plunged to new depths.

On his debut against Bournemouth, he gifted a goal to Dominic Solanke with his second touch of the ball, while in his next home game he was brought on at half-time as West Ham were destroyed 6-0 by Arsenal. At Nottingham Forest he was sent off, he was hauled off at half-time against Burnley, and when he boarded the team bus after a 4-3 defeat at Newcastle, one fan shouted "useless" at him. Phillips raised his middle finger in response.

He played just one more game for West Ham after that incident on Tyneside. His loan spell ended with him making just 10 appearances for the Irons, three of which were starts, while he failed to complete 90 minutes even once. 

Phillips returned to Manchester and went on City's pre-season tour of the United States in 2024, but with it being clear he had no hope of getting regular game time, another loan move beckoned. Newly-promoted Ipswich Town took him on and upon signing Phillips talked of "wanting to enjoy playing football again".

"The main reason I came to Ipswich was to get back playing football," he said. "[To] kind of play football, not stress free, but with less stress and less eyes on me, maybe. When I went to West Ham, I felt like there was quite a lot of eyes on me."

Phillips had his moments for Ipswich. but injuries disrupted his progress. He suffered a gash on his foot against Nottingham Forest which required 20 stitches before he ended the season by injuring his Achilles tendon, leading to him missing six of the Tractor Boys' final seven games.

Worst of all, though, he was forced to to undergo surgery to fix the issue over the summer, effectively ending his hopes of joining another team on loan as he was only able to resume training in late August. There wouldn't, in reality, have been many takers for Phillips given his performances over the last three seasons, injury record and his high wages (reported to be £120,000 per week).

Phillips was left with little choice but to remain with City, and he resumed training with the rest of the first-team squad in September. He made a surprise return to the matchday squad for the Carabao Cup tie at Huddersfield Town that month, but in keeping with his miserable run of luck from a football point of view, the game happened to coincide with the birth of his son. Phillips was initially ruled out but was a surprise inclusion on the teamsheet as a substitute having raced back from a London hospital. It may have only been seven minutes, but he came off the bench to make his first City appearance in 21 months.

"It’s been a long three-and-a-half months out and there’s still work to be done personally," he wrote on Instagram. "Nevertheless, I’m so happy to be back out on the pitch again in a City shirt. Thank you to the fans for your support, it doesn’t go unnoticed. Onto the next round."

Kyle Walker and Jack Grealish were among those to congratulate Phillips on his return, though he has not played since. He was an unused substitute in the next round of the League Cup at Swansea City, but he has not featured in a single matchday squad for a Premier League game, while he wasn't even included in City's squad list for the Champions League. 

It is difficult to imagine Phillips ever playing for City again, and the January transfer window cannot come soon enough given it offers him one last chance to salvage what is left of his career. Set to turn 30 on Tuesday, Phillips has two-and-a-half years left on the six-year contract he signed in 2022 and is entitled to see it out.

GOAL understands that City are keen to help Phillips find a new club in January and will be flexible in whether that ends up being a permanent move or a third loan spell. But a permanent move, most likely away from the Premier League, is the only way for him to really revive his career. 

Phillips is running out of chances to get his career back on track. Former Premier League striker Dean Saunders said last year that Phillips' career was headed in the same direction as Dele Alli, who is the same age as Phillips and without a club after being released by Como in September. Raheem Sterling, Phillips' England team-mate at Euro 2020, is also in the wilderness after being cast aside by Chelsea despite taking home an enormous salary. But there is hope if Phillips can follow in the footsteps of Jack Grealish, who has gone from being a City outcast to an Everton icon following his summer loan move to Merseyside.

Phillips has been through the ringer both before and since becoming a household name, and there must be a part of him that wishes he had never left Leeds to chase his dreams. His next dream should be simply to get his career back on track and feel like a footballer again.