Newly promoted Premier League side Ipswich Town have agreed a season-long loan deal for Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City.
The England international, 28 has endured two tough years since joining Manchester City from Leeds United, making just six starts across all competitions under Pep Guardiola. He spent the second half of last season on loan at West Ham United but he struggled to make an impact and started only three games. The defensive midfielder made errors and was notably sent off in a defeat against Nottingham Forest.
This has resulted in Kalvin Phillips’ dip in stock and subsequently, him being dropped from the England squad ahead of Euro 2024. However, Ipswich Town have offered him a Premier League lifeline to get his career back on track. Phillips is reportedly set to undergo a medical at Portman Road on Thursday before signing with the club until the summer of 2025.
Should the deal be completed in time, the 28-year-old could be in contention for a spot in Kieran McKenna’s squad to face Liverpool in their season opener at Portman Road on Saturday.
Ipswich Town have been active in the transfer market
Kieran McKenna has transformed Ipswich Town’s fortunes since arriving in December 2021, guiding the club to back-to-back promotions. Successive automatic promotions, which have seen the Tractor Boys climb from League One back to the Premier League for the first time since 2002, have made McKenna one of the highly-rated managers in the English game.
Despite interest from Chelsea, Brighton and Manchester United in the summer, the 38-year-old signed a new contract with Ipswich until 2028, making him among the highest-paid managers in the Premier League. The English tactician, who won the Championship’s manager of the season award for the 2023-24 campaign, has been backed by the club’s deep-pocketed owners in the transfer market ahead of the club’s return to the top flight after 22 long years.
The Tractor Boys have signed Ben Johnson, Omari Hutchinson, Conor Townsend, Liam Delap, Arijanet Muric and Jacob Greaves thus far. Phillips’ potential signing will be a coup for McKenna, whose first and foremost priority will be to keep the Suffolk-based outfit in the Premier League beyond the 2024/25 campaign.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
