According to a recent report, Manchester Evening News have confirmed that Manchester City have completed the signing of Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips. It is understood that the Sky Blues have paid a transfer sum worth £42m for a six-year contract, and he will be acquiring the number four shirt and feature in the pre-season tournament.
Phillips’ Campaign For Leeds United This Season
The 26-year-old has been through a tough time during the last campaign at Leeds United, as a hamstring injury halted his influential performances confining him to the sidelines. Despite that, he scored one goal and produced one assist in just 22 matches this season across all fronts.
Phillips could not impress in the attacking area compared to the previous campaigns for his boyhood club. However, he has done well defensively to average 2.7 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and 0.8 clearances per game in the Premier League. He has also been tidy with his ball distribution after completing 81.8% of his attempted passes in the English first division (stats via whoscored).
Will His Transfer To Manchester City Turn Out To Be Risky For Guardiola?
The defensive midfielder is a strong presence in the central areas of the field. He can make a few solid tackles to stop the opposition attackers in their tracks and doesn’t mind clearing his lines when the opposition is on the front foot.
Phillips remains adept at delivering long passes accurately allowing him to split the opposition and proficiently set up his teammates in front of the goal. He can play his way out from the back dropping deep between the defenders.
The Englishman’s transfer poses a significant difficulty for Pep Guardiola as he would demand regular play time and if the Spanish tactician wishes to play him and Rodri in the holding position, then it leaves a lot of attacking reinforcement on the bench considering that Erling Haaland would feature regularly in the starting XI.
This will eventually affect the growth of the squad as a whole, so Guardiola would have to find a way to keep rotating his players in the attacking department while maintaining the offensive prowess of the Etihad Club.
