West Ham could announce the loan signing of Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips “in the next 48 hours”, according to a fresh transfer claim.
The England international may have won a number of trophies during his 18-month spell at the Etihad to date, but his time there has ultimately been underwhelming overall.
Phillips has found it very difficult to convince Pep Guardiola that he is worthy of regular minutes, while injury absences also haven’t helped his chances.
This season, the 28-year-old has only appeared four times in the Premier League, making just four substitute appearances in the competition, so a move away is needed in January, especially with Euro 2024 around the corner.
According to an update from Football Insider, West Ham could complete the loan purchase of Phillips within 48 hours, having been linked with him in recent days:
“West Ham are expecting to agree the signing of Man City star Kalvin Phillips in the next 48 hours, sources have told Football Insider. All parties are confident of a breakthrough in talks after further progress was made overnight.
“West Ham are working on reaching an agreement for the England midfielder to join until the end of the season. The Irons are in pole position to sign the former Leeds star, who has been told he is free to move for the second half of the campaign after being almost frozen out by Pep Guardiola at City.”
This is a piece of business that should work so well for all parties, with Phillips no doubt so desperate to rebuild his career after falling away a little in recent years.
He has a massive point to prove ahead of the Euros, meaning West Ham would be signing a driven player, and he could help make up for the absence of Lucas Paqueta in the Hammers’ midfield, even though he is a very different player.
Phillips will give David Moyes bags of industry in the middle of the park, biting into tackles and pressing relentlessly, but he is also strong technically and should only have improved in that area at City, completing 90.5% of his passes across all competitions for club and country this season.
Should the former Leeds United man excel between now and the end of the season, a permanent move in the summer could then make complete sense for West Ham.
