Premier League: Declan Rice, Guardiola’s most expensive setback
The return of the Championships leaves us some surprises. Since if the players are already back after the World Cup, there are some who are not in the best dispositions. For this reason, Pep Guardiola decided to take responsibility by removing the latter from the collective trainings.
“He is not injured, he arrived overweight. He didn’t arrive in a condition to train and play.” Guardiola could not have been clearer about why international Kalvin Phillips is not training with his teammates. For the Spanish coach, the player returned unfit from the World Cup in Qatar, where he played for England. Therefore, if the English and Portuguese players who participated in the World Cup returned to work with Manchester City on Wednesday, Phillips was ordered not to train with his teammates.
Kalvin Phillips was also not included in the group for Pep’s Carabao Cup match against Liverpool. Curiously, the other English internationals were on the bench. On the other hand, despite his poor form, Guardiola has confidence in Phillips. “When he is ready, he will play, because we need him, we need him a lot,” said the City boss.
Injuries have slowed Kalvin’s progress with the Citizens and he has only played 53 minutes this season for City. After being knocked out of the World Cup with England in the quarterfinals against France, Phillips took a 10-day vacation before rejoining the team.
The player joined City from Leeds last summer for a fee of around €50 million and Pep was asked if he was disappointed with his signing, “That’s a private conversation with Kalvin. It remains to be seen whether Kalvin will be in Pep’s squad to face his former team, Leeds, next Wednesday when the Premier League resumes after the World Cup.
