Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips is hoping for a productive season out on loan at Ipswich Town.
The star has had a really poor past couple of years after completing a £45 million transfer from Leeds United to City.
Phillips had impressed regularly at Leeds, but his form never translated over.
Pep Guardiola was never convinced by him, and last term, Phillips spent the second half of the campaign with West Ham United.
That loan spell could not really have gone much worse, and it essentially scuppered any hopes of Manchester City selling the player for a decent fee.
He’s now with Ipswich Town and last week, there was some surprise speculation about Phillips’ immediate future – which manager Kieran McKenna has totally dismissed.
Kieran McKenna says Kalvin Phillips Man City recall talk is ‘nonsense’
Phillips has not yet hit his stride at Ipswich.
It has been a collective struggle for the Tractor Boys so far in the Premier League, and they sit 18th in the table without a win.
It was recently suggested that Phillips might have been set for a recall by City in January.
But Kieran McKenna has denied this is on the cards. He said (via Daily Mail): “What can I say about that? Proper proper nonsense. You can write something and it gets picked up and becomes a story, absolute nonsense.
“There have been no conversations of the like and it’s a real shame. He had a very good game today.”
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How Kalvin Phillips has fared at Ipswich so far
Phillips needs a big season for Ipswich.
His career has rather stalled over the past two years, and his reputation has sadly taken a bit of a battering.
He was once one of England’s best midfielders, and he will be hoping this move to Ipswich can help him rediscover his mojo.
So far, he has at least been heavily involved under McKenna. He’s started six of their last seven matches – which is more than in his last two seasons combined.
| Kalvin Phillips at Ipswich Town so far |
| Appearances/starts – 7/7 |
| Goals/assists – 0/0 |
| Pass accuracy – 78.9% |
| Percentage of dribblers tackled – 43.8% |
| Take-on success – 75% |
| Yellow cards/red cards – 1/0 |
He’s in favour. McKenna praised Phillips at the start of October, saying that he had settled in well and that he had already become an ‘important’ player for the squad.
For his display against Brentford at the weekend, it was a bit of a mixed bag with the East Anglian Times giving him a 6/10, stating: “Sloppy at times. Missed a crucial tackle that led to the first goal and looked a little leggy running back, but he recovered well and put in an improved performance compared to recent weeks.”
Phillips has started OK at Portman Road. But City will certainly be hoping he can go up a couple more gears between now and the end of the campaign.
