{"id":296696,"date":"2023-11-06T13:25:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T13:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/?p=296696"},"modified":"2023-11-06T13:25:19","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T13:25:19","slug":"pep-guardiola-would-love-to-give-kalvin-phillips-more-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allmysportsnews.com\/soccer\/pep-guardiola-would-love-to-give-kalvin-phillips-more-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Pep Guardiola 'would love' to give Kalvin Phillips more opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"
Pep Guardiola has admitted he would ‘love’ to give Kalvin Phillips as many opportunities as possible, but acknowledged he faced a difficult task in displacing Rodri from Manchester City’s starting XI.<\/p>\n
The England international arrived at the Etihad last year\u00a0from Leeds in a \u00a345million deal, but has struggled to make an impact with the Premier League champions and is expected to leave in January.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old had to wait until May to make his first Premier League start for the club and has played just 89 minutes across four league appearances so far this term.<\/p>\n
Even when Rodri missed three matches through suspension in October, Phillips’ only start came in the Carabao Cup defeat against Newcastle.<\/p>\n
Guardiola, however, was full of praise for the midfielder.<\/p>\n
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Pep Guardiola has admitted he ‘would love’ to give Kalvin Phillips as many opportunities as possible but can’t include him in the team because of Rodri<\/p>\n
Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n
‘Kalvin is exceptional in many things. Why he doesn’t play? Rodri is key for us,’ the Spaniard said, as per Fabrizio Romano.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Guardiola added Phillips was very supportive of his teammates and never complained about being left out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘Never, ever makes one action against mates that play or trains bad,’ he explained.<\/p>\n
‘I’d love to give him as much minutes as possible.’\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last month, Phillips admitted he was ‘going to have to make a decision on [my future] over the next months.’<\/p>\n
While he has found himself on the fringes at club level, Southgate’s faith in the 27-year-old has not appeared to waver in the 16 months since his ill-fated move.<\/p>\n
Phillips has featured in four of England’s last five games in all competitions and started the 3-1 win over Italy as the Three Lions clinched a spot at Euro 2024 with two matches to spare.<\/p>\n
For his part, Guardiola has previously made clear he would not keep players at City against their wish.<\/p>\n
‘I said a few months ago, but after that they have to agree with the club,’ he explained last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Phillips is likely to leave the Etihad in January after having very limited first team opportunities following his \u00a345m to City from Leeds in the summer of 2022<\/p>\n
‘My opinion is my opinion. The last word belongs to the club.<\/p>\n
‘If he decides to do it [leave], then do it. If the agreement is not done, then he stays. He\u2019s behaving incredibly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘One of the most generous players I\u2019ve ever seen \u2013 honestly, as I don\u2019t want to compliment when players don\u2019t play matches. Others are maybe problems in locker room \u2013 it\u2019s completely the opposite.<\/p>\n
‘Every time he goes to national team with Gareth [Southgate] I\u2019m the happiest man in the world. When he plays it\u2019s a benefit for me. I don\u2019t know what will happen with Kalvin because when the transfer window is open, nobody knows.’<\/p>\n
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n