Ian Wright has admitted he’s got no idea why Manchester City bought midfielder Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United last summer.
Wright was speaking on the Stick to Football Podcast and discussing the England international’s recent career choices.
An awful lot has been made of Kalvin Phillips’s move to Manchester City.
After years of being one of Leeds United’s best players, he made a move that few fans at Elland Road would have begrudged him for.
He’d fought his way into the England set-up while still playing in the Championship and looked more than ready to make the step up after two strong campaigns in the Premier League.
Man City paid Leeds £45m for Phillips, but Wright has questioned why they decided to fork out for the 27-year-old.
He was always going to struggle to displace Rodri from the team who is now considered one of if not the best defensive midfielder in the world.
Even his recent three-match ban didn’t offer Phillips the opportunity to impress, with Pep Guardiola instead turning to teenager Rico Lewis in Sunday’s defeat to Arsenal.
Wright unsure why Man City bought Phillips from Leeds
Speaking about the 28-cap international, Wright said: “The way Kalvin Phillips plays, he’s not one of those chasing around the place [players].
“He’s calm, he breaks things up, he plays it. Why did they buy him?”
Phillips did have the opportunity to leave Man City in the summer with several clubs interested in providing him with more opportunities to play.
West Ham were keen on Phillips while Newcastle United were also offering him a way out.
However, he instead decided to stay at the Etihad although that is proving to be a difficult decision to justify.
He’s dropping further and further down the pecking order and his place in the England squad has to be at risk sooner rather than later.
Wright didn’t go as far as to say that Phillips should have stayed at Leeds, although his presence at Elland Road would certainly have been welcomed.
The business Jesse Marsch did to replace Phillips arguably wasn’t that bad with Tyler Adams being one of the few players to come out of that campaign with any credit.
However, with the benefit of hindsight, it appears to have been a bad deal for all parties involved.