Kalvin Phillips has received an apology from Pep Guardiola for calling him overweight in public.
After Phillips arrived to the Etihad Stadium after the World Cup in Qatar out of shape, Guardiola exposed him.
Since joining West Ham on loan until the end of the season, Phillips has acknowledged that the comments have damaged his self-esteem and angered his family.
Rival supporters have made fun of Phillips’ weight problem. Guardiola has since acknowledged that it was a mistake for him to make his remarks public.
He said: “Yeah, I’m sorry. Once in eight years is not bad. But I’m so sorry. I apologise to him. I do apologise. I’m so sorry.”
Phillips said that he was unaware that Guardiola intended to make public his weight. However, Guardiola claimed that the two had spoken about his weight before he made the decision to reveal it to the public during a press conference following the game.
“Oh no, I spoke about that,” Guardiola said.
“Yeah, before our game, I spoke to him. I never, never before said something here without speaking with the players in that case.”
Phillips said that throughout his dreadful eighteen-month tenure with the English champions, the problem had been among his lowest moments.
He said: “After the World Cup was probably the toughest, when Pep came out and said I was overweight.
“He was right to do so, but there are different ways to go about it. I didn’t disagree with him, but obviously I took a big knock on my confidence and how I felt at City. My family weren’t happy about it, either – especially my mum.”
The England midfielder looks set to move away from the Etihad Stadium in a permanent move. He is currently on loan at West Ham, where he’s had a difficult start to life in London.
After shining at Leeds United, Phillips joined Man City with huge expectations, but limited chances to play and not given enough starts hampered his growth.
It won’t be wrong to say that he wasted one and a half year of his football career by joining the Premier League champions when he would have done much better elsewhere.
