Manchester City reportedly want to sell Kalvin Phillips permanently this month rather than loan him out.
Earlier today, it was reported that West Ham United were in talks with the Manchester club over a potential deal to sign the 28-year-old this month.
Now though, some behind-the-scenes details have come to light regarding City’s stance on potentially allowing the midfielder to leave the club before the January transfer window closes.
City now want to sell Phillips permanently
According to a recent report from TEAMtalk, City want to sell Phillips permanently but are still in discussions over a potential loan move to West Ham.
Back in the 2022 summer transfer window, the Manchester club paid £45m to sign the Englishman from Leeds United.
Since then, the midfielder has only gone on to start six of the 31 games he’s appeared in across all competitions.
Given the lack of game time he’s had at the Manchester club, it comes as no surprise that they are looking to move him out.
Now that it has been suggested that the Citizens are looking for a permanent sale, this says to us that they don’t see a future for Phillips at the Etihad Stadium.
In fact, Pep Guardiola said something very similar last month when he admitted that he struggles to see the former Leeds star in his ideal City team.
Moving forward, whether the Manchester club end up seeing Phillips leave on loan or on a permanent deal this month, the ideal situation for him would be if he can go somewhere he’d be playing regularly.
If West Ham were open to signing the England international on a permanent basis, it would be interesting to see what sort of fee it could take for City to give the green light on this potential deal and how close that may be to the £45m fee they paid to sign him in the first place.
