Liverpool have confirmed on their official website that Nathaniel Phillips has put pen to paper on a new long-term contract. It has been revealed that the English centre-back decided to commit his future to the Merseyside club on Tuesday by signing a fresh deal at the AXA Training Centre.
Phillips’ Impressive Form For Liverpool Last Season
Phillips enjoyed an impressive campaign at Anfield recently as he helped the Reds secure a third-place finish in the Premier League despite an injury crisis in defence. The English defensive ace made the most out of the opportunities that fell in his path and ended last season, scoring one goal and one assist in 20 senior matches for Liverpool in all competitions.
The 24-year-old was a consistent performer at the heart of Jurgen Klopp’s defence after he averaged 1.4 tackles, 1.3 interceptions and 4.6 clearances per 90 minutes in the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League. He also took care of the ball when distributing possession from the back, as evidenced by his pass success rate of 84% in both those competitions (stats via whoscored).
However, Phillips has lost his first-team privileges this season as the likes of Virgil Van Dijk, Joel Matip, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez are all ahead of him in Klopp’s pecking order. Thus, we can expect him to play a bit-part role at the red half of Merseyside with most of his appearances expected to come in the domestic cup competitions.
Phillips Pens A Fresh Long-Term Contract With Liverpool: Good Move For Both Parties?
Standing at 1.90m, Phillips is a towering presence at the back and can win his fair share of aerial duels. He is also not shy of making some solid tackles to secure the ball back for his side on the defensive end of the field.
The English centre-half doesn’t take too many risks when putting his foot through the ball inside his half and can even serve as a decent passer of the ball. However, Phillips is yet to prove his worth over the course of a whole season.
At the moment, the Bolton-born talent is more than good enough to offer some decent cover for Klopp’s first-choice defenders. Having said that, the former Bundesliga talent could have benefitted a lot if he went out on loan to gain more experience over the next ten months.
With all things considered, Phillips’ recent contract extension seems like a good move for both the player and the Merseyside club as they look to bring more trophies to Anfield in the coming seasons.
