Dean Saunders feels Manchester City have a player on their books who has suffered a downfall in his form and career similar to Dele Alli.
When Alli joined Tottenham Hotspur from MK Dons in 2015, he took the Premier League by storm.
In his debut season at Spurs, the Englishman registered an impressive 10 goals and eight assists in 28 Premier League starts.
Alli’s second campaign in a Tottenham shirt was even better — as he had 18 goals and eight assists to his name in the league.
But since then, the now-Everton midfielder’s career has experienced a nosedive in a way not many players’ has in recent memory.
On talkSPORT, Dean Saunders explained why Kalvin Phillips has undergone a similar decline to that of Alli.
Dean Saunders compares Kalvin Phillips to Dele Alli
Phillips, who famously won the England Player of the Year Award for the 2020/2021 season was regarded as a top player for Leeds United and the Three Lions.
After impressing in a Leeds shirt, the 28-year-old showcased he has the quality to compete with the very best players in Europe at Euro 2020 as well.
However, since signing for Manchester City in 2022, Phillips’ career has primarily endured lows rather than highs, as Dean Saunders compared his fall from grace to that of Alli.
“We’ve seen it happen to Dele Alli. Dele Alli became disillusioned and all of a sudden, what’s happened to him? I see Dele Alli bursting into the box past Harry Kane, getting on the end of things, making goals.”
“Kalvin Phillips, I see him intercepting things, keeping it simple, passing to people who can go past people and obviously, he’s lost all his belief and confidence.”
“And when your confidence goes, you [Jamie O’Hara] know, if I went eight games without scoring, I couldn’t even control the ball. Everything’s an effort and your belief goes and you start thinking you’re a bad player and that’s what’s happened to him.”
Selling Kalvin Phillips must be non-negotiable for Man City
For Manchester City, it should be non-negotiable to offload Phillips in the ongoing summer transfer window.
Whether it is due to a potential lack of confidence, as Dean Saunders claims, simply being a poor fit in Pep Guardiola’s system or him lacking match sharpness, the Englishman does not look the part in a City shirt.
So much so that in pre-season, even a young prospect like Jacob Wright has looked far more at ease in the Sky Blues’ setup than Phillips.
As a result, Manchester City should be plotting behind the scenes to let the former Leeds midfielder leave and bank a fee that could help them fund a move for a brand-new understudy for Rodri.
