Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips wants to stay at the club this summer despite recent interest from Unai Emery’s Aston Villa.
According to Football Insider, those close to the midfielder expect things to be better for him next season. The same outlet had previously reported that Villa had an interest in bringing him to the club in the next transfer window.
Pep Guardiola’s side signed the England international last summer from Leeds United for a fee of around £40 million. He’s struggled to find consistent game time this season, playing only eight Premier League matches in the 2022/23 campaign thus far.
The City boss claimed that Phillips had returned from the World Cup late last year, “overweight” and also said he “didn’t arrive in the conditions to train and to play”, as quoted by The Athletic.
Perhaps this is a reason why he’s hardly featured for Man City this season and there could still be some potential animosity there.
However, Guardiola has been able to vastly improve new signings in their second season with the club. Both Riyad Mahrez and Jack Grealish underperformed in their first campaign, but now they’re both very important components in the Spaniard’s City set-up.
Perhaps with a season under his belt and more of an idea of the Guardiola philosophy, Phillips can start to make an impact at Man City in the 2023/24 season.