When Kalvin Phillips signed for Manchester City from Leeds United for £42m last July it appeared at the time to be an ideal move, for the player and England.
Phillips had formed a formidable partnership with Declan Rice in the centre of England’s midfield, the pair excelling in the “double pivot” that propelled the country to its first European Championship final.
A big club was the next step. To take his game to the next level Phillips needed to leave Leeds and progress under one of the game’s leading managers competing for titles and trophies and playing in the Champions League.
At City he would get to work with Pep Guardiola, the master, and play and train alongside the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan.
Yet as City have chased an improbable Treble in Phillips’s first season, the player has struggled to keep up. A serious shoulder injury that required surgery held him back for six weeks at the start of the campaign, yet even then his contribution this season has been so minimal as to wipe even the brightest smile from a face – and Phillips has the brightest.
Four starts. Another 17 appearances from the bench. By January 22, he had played five minutes of Premier League football, not including stoppage time.
He didn’t start a Premier League game until the penultimate weekend of the season after City had already been confirmed as champions. His second was on the final day, which they lost to Brentford ending a 25-game unbeaten run.
In the league he has been a substitute 11 times, often in the very late stages of games, those final few minutes when the mere act of making a substitution can waste a few precious extra seconds. Being a £42m clock drainer is not quite the stuff dreams are made of.
Maybe Phillips’s move will work out eventually. Jack Grealish struggled to settle in his first season but has been one of Guardiola’s most relied-upon forwards during this extraordinary season.
But football moves fast and in a summer set to be defined by the big moves of English midfielders the precariousness and difficulties of Phillips’s situation should act as a warning sign.
Gareth Southgate was asked recently about the issue of Harry Maguire not playing for Manchester United and the England manager name-checked Phillips. “Inevitably it’s not a situation that can continue for ever,” Southgate said. ”It’s like Kalvin Phillips. They are important players for us and with Kalvin we haven’t got many players who can play as that single pivot.”
A year out from Euro 2024, what happens this summer could be the making or breaking of some of Southgate’s key players, or those with potential to be them.
Rice, 24, with a year plus the option for one more remaining on his contract, is almost certain to leave West Ham for a deal that will reach around £100m. Mason Mount, also 24, only has one year remaining on his Chelsea contract so his fee will probably be closer to £80m. James Maddison, 26, is due to be sold by relegated Leicester City to reduce their huge wage bill and to finance a fight back to the Premier League.
According to reports Jude Bellingham is a Real Madrid star in waiting, although it feels unfathomable the teenager (how is he still a teenager?) won’t thrive at the Bernabeu. Likewise Conor Gallagher is also worth keeping an eye on in this regard — this could be a pivotal summer for the 23-year-old. While James Ward-Prowse’s expected transfer from relegated Southampton, possibly to West Ham, could be the domino that sets others in motion.
Those players with destinations TBC will be assessed by recruitment teams for their merits, their strengths and weaknesses, how they would complement what is already in their squad, who might tempt them where. They will plot and scheme, sell projects and ideas. It will be like a game of poker with hundreds of millions at stake but all the cards keep swapping hands after the flop, the turn and the river.
Arsenal want to build on their strong season and have long pursued Rice. A great fit for Rice, but still a risk if this season turns out to be anomalous.
Or could Rice and Mount move together, reuniting old friends from Chelsea’s academy?
Qualifying for the Champions League has given Mikel Arteta significant spending power and they could afford it. As could United. And the idea of working under Erik ten Hag should be a serious consideration with signs pointing to him turning them back into genuine title challengers. One or both could be crucial to that transformation.
Liverpool, meanwhile, had to measure expectations and pull out of the race for Bellingham to spread their transfer budget over several players and Mount is a financially attainable option, while working under Jurgen Klopp an attractive prospect for the player. Equally, the lack of Champions League football next season is a drawback.
Then there’s Newcastle. An exciting season of Champions League football ahead. They have long been keen on Maddison – could he be the playmaker to take them to another level? Or if Eddie Howe prefers a midfielder with more defensive capabilities and can promise Mount he will be at the heart of his team then it is a prospect that should not be ignored. Gallagher is an option too. Although if Mount departs Gallagher could be best served staying put and working with Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea.
It’s a complex, unenviable landscape to navigate. How successful each of them is at doing so will be crucial to England’s chances in Germany 2024. And they have been warned.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/dOq2z3Z
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