TalkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan has suggested that Manchester City could use Kalvin Phillips as part of a deal to sign Declan Rice.
Earlier this week, Phillips revealed that his intention is to stay at the Etihad Stadium and work towards having a more prominent place in the team.
However, with the Citizens reportedly considering making a move to sign Rice from West Ham United, one pundit has spoken about the possibility of seeing City use Phillips as part of a potential swap deal to help them land the Hammers captain, who Arsenal have had two bids turned down for.
Jordan assesses potential Phillips swap deal for Rice
Speaking on talkSPORT, Jordan said this on the matter.
He said: “There’s a makeweight opportunity in this deal as well because what Kalvin Phillips says and what Pep Guardiola tells him might be two different things.
“So if he says ‘I want to stay at Man City,’ and Pep Guardiola goes ‘that’s very commendable son, but you ain’t playing,’ then his attitude will have to change.
“And if there’s a situation where West Ham are prepared to let [Rice] go in exchange for something in return, then you’ve got a deal that’s made up of the sum of all its parts.
“So suddenly you’re doing a deal worth £75m deal with cash and then you’re taking Kalvin Phillips the other way and making it happen in that perspective.
“So there’s a variety of ways this deal can be done because West Ham are going to have a need, they’re going to need to replace this player and Kalvin Phillips might be the make-way, he may not be, it may be unfair to put him in the equation.”
Bearing in mind how West Ham tried to sign the 27-year-old back in the 2022 January transfer window and even had a £50m bid for him rejected by Leeds United before he eventually made his way to City in the summer for a fee of £45m, this could make a potential swap deal for Rice with him involved be quite tempting for the east London club.
Also, having only started four of the 21 games he featured in for Guardiola’s side last season, the potential prospect of having regular game time at the London Stadium could tempt Phillips into going back on what he said recently about wanting to stay at City.
Either way, if Guardiola thinks Rice would be an ideal addition to his squad and that Phillips’ potential departure wouldn’t be a problem, the Manchester club should definitely see if West Ham would be interested in doing a swap deal.
