More bad news for Kalvin Phillips at Manchester City amid Leeds United return rumours
Leeds United have been linked with a move for Man City midfielder Kalvin Phillips this summer, who hasn’t been able to catch a break in recent seasons.
In the summer of 2022, Kalvin Phillips left boyhood club Leeds United for City. While it was painful for Leeds fans to lose the England international, many understood his decision.
He was joining Pep Guardiola and Kevin de Bruyne that summer. It’s been a tough spell since his £45 million move to the Etihad, though.
Injuries, the form of Rodri and public criticism from Guardiola in press conferences have since seen Phillips lose confidence and go on loan to both West Ham United and Ipswich Town.
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Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Kalvin Phillips has no future at Man City after latest developments
Simply put, neither went to plan. He flopped at West Ham, making mistakes, picking up a silly and avoidable red card, and suffering injury issues.
It has been marginally better for him at Ipswich, but he’s managed just 22 appearances this season and Ipswich have been relegated. That has seen Phillips reflect on a difficult season with Ipswich.
Graeme Bailey has told LeedsUnited.News that Phillips wants to come back to Leeds this summer. It is not known if Leeds want to bring the star back, though some reports suggest Leeds are interested.
He remains under contract until 2028. Earlier in the year, we revealed that Leeds could target a loan deal for Phillips in a bid to get around the cost of an expensive transfer deal.
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Now, Phillips has an achilles issue amid the links to Leeds. It doesn’t completely end Leeds’ hopes, but it’s certainly changed the chances of it happening this summer given he won’t be available until August.
He is way down the pecking order at Man City already, with little chance of getting back into Guardiola’s plans and breaking into the first-team. That has since been made worse.
🚨🔵 Manchester City are set to submit their opening bid also for Rayan Cherki next week.
The plan is to accelerate for Cherki and try get Tijjani Reijnders deal sealed in the upcoming days. pic.twitter.com/juwnMa8l3s
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 31, 2025
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Phillips is in need of a fresh start with regular football at the age of 29, which he is not going to get in Manchester if City acquire both AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders and Atalanta BC’s Eder.
Convocado por Ancelotti para a seleção, Ederson pode ir para o Manchester City. O time de Guardiola discute com a Atalanta uma proposta de 70 milhões de euros. Bayern de Munique, Liverpool e até o United também têm interesse. pic.twitter.com/09GN3ov8Ka
— Jorge Nicola (@jorgenicola) May 31, 2025
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Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano expects Reijnders to be added to their midfield in the coming days, while Jorge Nicola is now confident that they will also approach Eder.
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Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
Marcelo Bielsa got the best out of Kalvin Phillips
A product of Leeds’ famous academy, Kalvin Phillips was Michael Brown’s boot boy at Leeds. That is the obvious move for him and it’s easy to see why he’s keen to reunite with his former side.
However, Eddie Gray is unsure on Phillips returning. By having this operation, he could regain the spark he’s been missing but it won’t be at a club where he clearly has no future.
Reijnders and Eder are younger than Phillips and he will be below them in the pecking order on top of Mateo Kovacic, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Nico Gonzalez, and more.
The defensive midfielder has the skill-set to be an effective Premier League player in the right team and system but Phillips has had so much go against him in that sense.
Marcelo Bielsa was the manager who had Phillips playing the best football of his career, but whether he even gets close to that level now looks extremely unlikely.
He was the linchpin of that Leeds team from 2018-2022 and the Argentine propelled Phillips to England starts under Gareth Southgate as a result.
