Kalvin Phillips kept away from Manchester City training for being “overweight” reveals Pep Guardiola

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that midfielder Kalvin Phillips was unable to train following his return from international duty as he was “overweight”.

The former Leeds United midfielder now faces a race against time to become fit for the Boxing Day scheduling of Premier League fixtures, as Manchester City travel to Elland Road on December 28.

Phillips returned to Manchester City following his time with the England national team at the FIFA World Cup and his personal time away from the sport, as granted by his Premier League employers.

It is understood Kalvin Phillips travelled to New York for part of his time away from Manchester City and England duties, as did fellow Etihad teammate Jack Grealish.

However, Phillips has not trained since returning to the City Football Academy, and was absent from the matchday squad that took on Liverpool in the 3-2 win in the Carabao Cup quarter-final on Thursday night.

After the match, Pep Guardiola provided a detailed reason as to why his summer signing was unable to join his teammates in the return of competitive football this week.

“He’s not injured, he arrived (back) overweight,” Pep Guardiola revealed.

The Manchester City boss continued, “I don’t know (why he returned overweight). He didn’t arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play.”

When questioned as to whether England were directly responsible for Kalvin Phillips’ situation, Pep Guardiola quickly responded, “No, no, no, no. Absolutely (not).”

“When he will be ready, he will play, because we need him, we need him a lot.”

Ruben Dias was another player absent from the matchday squad that faced Liverpool this week, with the Portugal international sustaining an injury during the latter stages of the FIFA World Cup.

It was reported following Thursday night’s match that the centre-back could be ruled out for up to a month with a thigh/hamstring problem.

Julian Alvarez is the other player that remains away from the first-team squad, as he continues to celebrate his World Cup win with Argentina as part of his granted time away following the conclusion of the Qatar tournament.