Kalvin Phillips is expected to leave Manchester City this month but there has not yet been any real movement over his exit.
The midfielder has featured very little this season, playing just 10 games across all competitions for a total of 318 minutes.
Pep Guardiola is fond of Phillips but very clearly does not trust him all that much, and the feeling has been that he will almost certainly move on in this window.
But it is a question of whether a deal can be struck that suits all parties.
Currently, City’s loan fee is proving prohibitive – and now, the player’s agents are in dialogue with club officials about getting it lowered.
Kalvin Phillips’ agents are talking with Manchester City about setting a lower loan fee
Journalist Ed Aarons of the Guardian has reported on the Phillips situation this evening, and it appears that he is currently not even close to leave the Etihad.
At the moment, the player does have interest, but none of the clubs that are keen are willing to pay the loan which is thought to be about £6 million. Those clubs are West Ham United, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace.
Aarons said on X: “Understand that Kalvin Phillips’ agents are negotiating with Manchester City over the size of the loan fee for the England midfielder. Several clubs including Crystal Palace, Newcastle and West Ham are interested but unwilling to pay £6m wanted by City.”
In recent days, it has been suggested that Phillips is more likely to be a late outgoing this window, as opposed to in the coming days.
City won’t need to replace Phillips and so can afford to take their time with the negotiations.
Phillips may have to agitate for move
So it sounds as though City are currently standing quite firm over that loan fee of around £6 million.
It is quite a high demand, considering Phillips has played so little for City since signing from Leeds United for £45 million, and you can understand the reluctance of these clubs to pay it.
But City are entitled to ask for such an amount, as they would happily see the player stay put and he has a contract with the club until the summer of 2028.
So it may be on Phillips himself to start agitating for a move, because he needs out of City with Euro 2024 coming up. Supposedly, he has been behaving like a model professional amid all this speculation about his future, but he may now just need to change tack.
It is vital he leaves, because in recent times he has been losing prominence in the England setup.
Perhaps if he makes his desperation clear to City officials, then there will be a willingness to lower the asking fee a little.
