Phillips giving Man City a Rice headache
Manchester City’s late bid to sign Declan Rice is being held up by Kalvin Phillips giving Man City a Rice headache by refusing to move from the Etihad.
We revealed several weeks ago Pep Guardiola has made Dec a target and City have been making discreet moves to scupper Arsenal’s pathetic attempts to low-ball the champions.
It’s understood City want to pair Rice alongside Rodri and are prepared to go as high as £75m plus Phillips to pull off a major coup. Phillips, 27, however, is digging in his heels and has told City he wants to stick around and prove himself next season after his £42m move from Leeds last summer.
Phillips missed three months of the season following shoulder surgery and came back from the World Cup overweight, although it was only a couple of pounds over Guardiola’s strict rules. He was forced to watch the majority of the run-in from the sidelines as City went on to record an historic Treble.
The England man also has interest from Newcastle United, who can also offer the carrot of Champions League football next term.
Guarduiola a huge Declan Rice fan
Guardiola is a huge fan of Rice and has previously discussed his talents with his backroom staff, believing he can easily play as an eight or a six. City also feel there are plenty of opportunities for Dec to play the hybrid John Stones role, which has seen the central defender coming in to midfield to impressive effect.
The Champions League winners expect to lose midfielder Bernardo Silva and are poised to bring in Chelsea’s Matteo Kovacic as a replacement. Moysie still rates Phillips highly after failing with a £52m offer to sign the player two seasons ago and would gladly now take him in the equation.
City also have a batch of quality youngsters and the likes of Cole Palmer, Carlos Borges and Taylor Harwood-Bellis could also be considered and earned more than £350m in prize money but missed out on Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid.
Despite that, City insiders have told Claret and Hugh that Rice has always been admired and more talks will take place with Phillips after the international weekend. He earns around £160,000-per-week in Manchester, which is doable for Irons.
It seems like there is something that Pep doesn’t like about Phillips. Party boy? drinker? I’d stay clear.
Moyes is an absolute idiot I’d ge goes near Phillips. No where near as good as Alvarez or Palhinha. He is a very poor defensive midfielder.