Jose Mourinho aims transfer dig at Manchester City and Pep Guardiola as Kalvin Phillips edges towards Etihad exit door

The England international swapped Leeds for City in thesummer of 2022 for an initial fee of £42 million ($52m) but the move hasn't worked out. The 28-year-old has made 30 appearances in all competitions but just five of those have been starts. City manager Guardiola admitted he "struggles" to see how Phillips, who had a rare start this week against Red Star Belgrade, will get first-team minutes this season and that a January exit could be on the cards. Now Roma boss Mourinho has had his say on the matter.

He told beIN Sports: "Look, not that I'm jealous, but Manchester City, for example, paid €80 million for Phillips. Now, in January, Pep said he will send him away and buy another [midfielder]. We are in a different reality. I would like one, two, three or four players, and [Roma sporting director] Tiago Pinto and the owners would like them too. We all want to try to improve the team to be stronger for the second half of the season, but we have difficulties in trying to do that."

Phillips may end up leaving City in January as he is no closer to breaking into Guardiola's first-team and he wants to play regularly to get into Gareth Southgate's England squad for Euro 2024. City have enough strength in depth to cope without the midfielder but will look to make as much money from his sale as possible. Plus, they have the resources to sign someone else in his stead - something many other clubs, such as Roma, cannot afford to do.

Before they can organise a transfer for Phillips and bring in a replacement in the January transfer window, City will see out the rest of the year with three games left to play in 2023. The reigning Premier League champions take on Crystal Palace on Saturday.