An unwanted Manchester City star has offered himself to FC Barcelona according to SPORT, which cited … [+]
An unwanted Manchester City star has offered himself to FC Barcelona according to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
Kalvin Phillips was a fully-fledged England international when City decided to pay boyhood club Leeds United $49.4 million (£42 million) for his services in July 2022.
Since then, however, the Yorkshireman has failed to gain recognition from his head coach Pep Guardiola, who has given him just 31 appearances with less than half of those coming in the Premier
Premier
Being surplus to requirements at the Etihad pushed Phillips to head out on loan at the turn of 2024, and while Barca was linked to him at the time, the Catalans’ economic predicament meant he instead headed to West Ham where he has likewise sat on the bench with just 10 outings.
As things stand, Phillips will head back to his parent club but is looking for a potential next destination.
This had led to him offering his services to Barca according to SPORT, and while City would prefer to try and recoup some of their outlay on the 28-year-old and preferably sell him for around $32.5 million (€30 million), it is more likely that Phillips is again loaned out for the 2024/2025 season.
Phillips could be a sound Plan B for Barca, that’s if new head coach Hansi Flick isn’t able to convince his former Bayern Munich charge Joshua Kimmich to join him in Catalonia from the Bavarians – though of course Barca would also have to be able to afford him.
Kimmich is coming up to the last 12 months on his contract meaning Bayern might sell him for a cut fee. But even that can prove a struggle for the Blaugrana to raise unless they sell big stars such as Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong who could be Munich-bound.
If De Jong stays, however, and Phillips arrives on loan, they could play in a double pivot in Flick’s preferred 4-2-3-1 system.
Though many have doubts about De Jong’s ability to feature as the sole pivot in a 4-3-3 system, he delivered some of his best performances with a natural in the position by his side in Sergio Busquets when Barca lifted the La Liga title in 2022/2023.