Pep Guardiola has revealed that England midfielder Kalvin Phillips reported to Manchester City from World Cup duty overweight and not fit enough to train with the Premier League champions.
The astonishing revelation follows City’s impressive EFL Cup win over Liverpool on Thursday, a game that saw Guardiola use three England internationals off the bench.
A fourth, Kyle Walker, was an unused substitute but Phillips was left out of the City squad completely.
That followed the return of Gareth Southgate’s stars to City training on Wednesday.
“He’s not injured. He arrived overweight,” said Guardiola. “I don’t know why. He didn’t arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play.”
Such a drop off in fitness is all the more startling given that just 16 days elapsed between Phillips making the second of his two World Cup substitute appearances, against Senegal, and reporting back to City.
And the City manager admitted he was surprised, given his involvement in Qatar, that Phillips was unable to perform.
“Absolutely. That’s why he cannot play,” said Guardiola. “When he will be ready, he will play, because we need him, we need him a lot.”
Guardiola remained guarded when asked if he was disappointed in the 27-year-old midfielder.
“It’s a private conversation with Kalvin,” he said.
A £42 million summer signing from Leeds, Phillips played 40 minutes in Qatar, adding to just 54 minutes of club football this season.
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