Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips has recently been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur – but journalist Ben Jacobs doesn’t believe a move to be likely.
It is widely expected that Phillips, 27, will be leaving the Etihad Stadium this month.
It is seemingly a question of, on what kind of basis he will leave at this point.
Phillips has barely featured for City this season, despite there being opportunities for him to play such as when Rodri got a red card against Nottingham Forest and three-game ban as a result.
Pep Guardiola doesn’t fancy him, and so the expectation is that he’ll leave in the coming weeks – it is just a case of where he goes, with Newcastle United and Juventus the teams mentioned the most.
But Spurs have also been named as a possible option – but Jacobs has cast doubt on that particular move happening.
Kalvin Phillips unlikely to make move from Manchester City to Tottenham Hotspur
Back in October, it was claimed that Spurs were keen on signing Phillips and it was also suggested that that Johan Lange, Spurs’ technical director, was a huge admirers of the player.
Just recently though, there hasn’t been much mention of the north Londoners when it comes to Phillips.
But his name came up in a discussion in a video on the Last Word On Spurs YouTube channel, which featured journalist Ben Jacobs.
A number of names that have been linked with Spurs were put to Jacobs, and he spoke a little bit about what he knows of Phillips.
He said: “I’m not sure there’s a great deal in Kalvin Phillips to Spurs. We know he needs game time. The problem with Kalvin Phillips is that Manchester City want a loan with obligation to buy. Or if it is to be a straight loan, which is not their preference, it’s a really high fee. I don’t think Spurs will see any value in that.
“But again, Phillips is a midfielder and to some extent follows the profile of (Conor) Gallagher so they may want to strengthen in that position.”
If City were to loan Phillips initially, it’s been suggested the club would want a fee of at least £5 million.
Kalvin Phillips to Spurs would be very surprising
Guardiola may not rate £150,000-a-week star Phillips for his own side, but the Spaniard would surely want to avoid a potential scenario of strengthening a Premier League rival.
Right now, Spurs are just a point behind City in the table having played one game more.
Ange Postecoglou has done a terrific job in his first season and Spurs are to be taken seriously. They may end up falling away, but City surely don’t want to risk making them a better team.
Phillips’ move to City may not have worked out, but there is a player there and he could easily make another side better.
