A claim has been made that Manchester City could be willing to sell Kalvin Phillips to West Ham United in exchange to sign Declan Rice.
Manchester City open to Kalvin Phillips sale in order to sign Declan Rice
It was also reported by Sky Sports on Wednesday that David Moyes’ men would be open to selling their talismanic captain for a £100 million fee plus a player to come in to replace him.
With the Sky Blues only willing to offer Ilkay Gundogan a one-year deal, while Barcelona aim to tie him down to a two-year contract, the club legend could depart in the summer.
Considering Bernardo Silva’s future is in the air summer after summer, perhaps Manchester City could explore the possibility of bringing in Declan Rice, branded as ‘world-class’ by Standard Sport while letting Kalvin Phillips go.
Journalist Dean Jones certainly believes such a deal is possible, as he said on the Ranks FC podcast, “What if it’s Kalvin Phillips and money? That is actually where I’m now thinking, ‘Hang on, are they spotting something here?’ We know that City have just been nudged out of that Bellingham decision, we know there’s a fondness of Declan Rice, we know they’re looking to revamp that area of the midfield.”
“Declan Rice models himself on Yaya Toure. Where better to go and be the new Yaya Toure? So, there’s a lot of reasons why that one could add up.”
MCN View: Unlikely that Kalvin Phillips is sold just a season in
While Declan Rice is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and Kalvin Phillips has not had the best time at Manchester City, it is unlikely that the latter is given up on so early.
Furthermore, it was claimed just six days ago that the former Leeds United midfielder is keen on staying and proving his worth himself.
After all, Phillips has suffered an injury-riddled debut campaign at City and while his cameos have not inspired much confidence, that could be due to a lack of match fitness.
In addition, a number of new signings during the Guardiola era have only got going in their second seasons, which shows that a panic sale would not be advisable.
However, if Manchester City do end up selling Kalvin Phillips to sign Declan Rice, that may be a sign that perhaps the former was perceived not to be cut out for the elite level.
