Pep Guardiola says a decision on Kalvin Phillips’ future at Manchester City will be made at the end of the season, with the manager admitting a nip-and-tuck title race has left him struggling to accommodate the England midfielder. Phillips has not started a single Premier League game for City since his £45 million move from Leeds United last summer.
City face Phillips’ former club at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday knowing victory will move them four points clear of Arsenal at the top with four games to play and another significant step closer to a fifth league title in six seasons.
Phillips, 27, has played just 103 minutes in the top flight for City and is facing growing questions about his long-term future at the club.
But, with City having been forced to chase down Arsenal for much of the campaign and only recently putting themselves in pole position, Guardiola said he could not look beyond Rodri and John Stones in central midfield with so little margin for error.
“I’m not complaining [about] Kalvin because when you don’t play much it’s difficult to take the rhythm,” the City manager said. “John – we’re 7 years together; Rodri is [four] years together. I don’t have to tell them anything, just little details – a movement here or there.
“Kalvin, if maybe in the past he’d played more minutes he will get that but Rodri was in exceptional form. That [midfield] role is so, so important, that’s why the lack of minutes makes the circle more difficult. But he always pays attention, in the training sessions he is always open minded to get it.
“But being so behind Arsenal [for a long period of the season], we cannot drop points. We haven’t had that situation of being eight, 10 points in front – in the past it happened. He [Phillips] can do it, but in that moment I always had the feeling Rodri knows exactly what to do in the role. He continues to do what he knows exactly he has to do.”
Guardiola: The players have to earn my confidence, all of them, not just Kalvin
With a host of top clubs in the market for central midfielders this summer, and several clubs at risk of losing key assets likely to be in the market for replacements, Phillips could be in demand should he and City decide to cut their losses.
Guardiola said he was not paying any attention to the summer at the moment, with City still in the hunt for a treble of league title, Champions League and FA Cup, but admitted Phillips’ situation would be discussed at the end of the season.
“In some things he needs to adapt a little bit more but what happens next season, I’m not concerned for one second now,” he said. “We will see at the end of the season. We’ll sit with the players. Maybe they want more minutes or maybe they are not happy with the situation. But right now I’m not going to discuss anything.”
It is not uncommon for new signings to take a season to adjust to Guardiola’s methods but even players like Jack Grealish, Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva, who endured some difficulties in their first year at City, played a lot of games.
Phillips, by contrast, has been a peripheral figure all season, starting just two matches in total, and Guardiola admitted there was an onus on the players to show they can cut it.
“Jack maybe didn’t play a lot of important games last season but he played a lot of minutes,” Guardiola said. “It depends on the players. I try to be honest with the questions [asked] and my feelings. My feelings sometimes change. But at the end it belongs to the players, they have to convince themselves and the team and not because I say something it’s going to happen. They have to earn my confidence, all of them, not just Kalvin.”