Pep Guardiola praises Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips amid talk of summer exit

Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola has commented on his future plans for Kalvin Phillips.

Since his arrival last summer, Phillips’ time with Manchester City has been rather limited, with the 27-year-old missing a large amount of the campaign due to a series of injuries.

The Three Lions midfielder has appeared in six matches for the Cityzens since the Qatar World Cup, as he competes with Rodri for a place in the City midfield.

The former Leeds player has even been linked with a possible summer transfer, amid interest from West Ham United, who could lose Declan Rice at the end of the season.

However, Guardiola has insisted that Phillips has a key role to play for the Blues, with City currently still fighting on three fronts.

When asked about the prospect of Phillips receiving more game time, the Catalan wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea, just that it happens that he is going up against an in-form Rodri.

“Yeah, maybe yeah I would love it but Rodri is playing at an incredible level. So important for us.” said Guardiola, “Sooner or later hopefully I can do it but we are delighted.”

Despite limited minutes, Guardiola also praised Phillips’ recent efforts: “A fantastic boy in training and always his motives perfect.

“Today with a lot of stats and analysis and data and these kind of things the motion and vibe of the locker room will be in the future the most important thing to be a successful team and Kalvin [Phillips] helps us do this.”

Phillips was one of six signings by Manchester City last summer, with the Sky Blues also adding Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Manuel Akanji, Stefan Ortega and Sergio Gomez to their squad.