Kalvin Phillips will have a big decision to make on his future this summer with his time at Manchester City seemingly over, and he could reunite with a Leeds United player at a new club.
Having decided to leave Man City on loan in January in a bid to get himself into England’s Euro 2024 squad, he opted to join West Ham. But the temporary spell in London could not have gone worse for him.
The midfielder made mistakes that led to goals, conceded a penalty, received a red card and finished the season injured, all in the space of just 10 appearances for David Moyes’ side in both league and cup.
He now returns to Pep Guardiola’s City where he has a contract until the summer of 2028. But with little hope of resurrecting what was a poor spell with the Premier League champions and a move is required.
Phillips could now join Leeds man Diego Llorente at new club
It may come as a surprise to many but Diego Llorente remains a Leeds player despite spending the last 18 months on loan at Roma, where he has played 54 times and even reached the final of the Europa League.
It is believed that Roma, Leeds and Llorente have a gentleman’s agreement to strike a £4.3m permanent move this summer, but as time goes on Llorente has ‘less and less hope’ of that deal going through.
Llorente is still expected to make the move and now he could be joined by his old Leeds teammate Phillips, with Roma interested. Roma Forever claim the Italian side are eyeing a deal to sign the City ace.
Phillips’ tempo may suit Roma and Serie A but there’s a problem
While he is renowned for covering large distances, Phillips is not particularly known for his tempo or speed and the top tier of Italian football may suit the England midfielder perfectly if he does join Roma.
But there is a problem, with the report claiming he earns £130,000 a week and such wages will be difficult for Roma to afford. It might be that City have to pay a portion of those wages to get a deal done.
There is a chance Phillips and Llorente could reunite and play in the same side at Roma, two years after last playing together in the incredible last-day win over Brentford to keep Leeds in the Premier League.