Kalvin Phillips reacts to Haaland’s ‘let’s go’ message as Man City exit looms
Erling Haaland took to social media as the sensational striker continues to work hard away from Man City this summer.
The Norwegian star was unable to have enough impact to fire Pep Guardiola‘s side through to the Club World Cup quarter-finals, with the Citizens eventually being knocked out by Al-Hilal in America.
Despite a relatively poor campaign by his standards, the 25-year-old still managed 34 goals and five assists in 48 appearances, ending the season as the third-highest Premier League goalscorer.
With the additions of Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri, and Tijjani Reijnders, Guardiola is in no mood to go trophyless for a second consecutive season, but there is still business to be done over the coming weeks.
Getting rid of the deadweight within the squad will be vital, and having spent last season on loan at Ipswich Town, Kalvin Phillips is likely to find a new home before the new campaign kicks off next month.
Erling Haaland ready for Man City return
Taking to Instagram (26 July), Haaland shared a video of his pre-season preparations while still away on holiday, simply captioned: “Let’s go,” with a rocket emoji, before going on a shirtless run up a hill.
Liverpool‘s Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremy Doku were joined by exit-linked Phillips in liking the star striker’s post, with the squad set to come back together soon for the 2025/26 campaign.
Football Insider understands that Phillips will not seal his Man City exit until the midfielder recovers from his current Achilles injury, having undergone surgery at the end of May.
Pep Guardiola to continue squad overhaul this summer
Football Insider verdict
With Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker leaving, there is a clear passing of the torch going on at the Etihad Stadium, seeing the veterans finally hand over responsibility to a much younger group.
The likes of Phil Foden, Savinho, Cherki, and Reijnders, alongside Haaland, will be trusted to lead the Citizens forward, which will be very much needed after a difficult campaign last season.
Guardiola has already threatened to quit should the size of the squad not diminish over the coming weeks, so as already stated, getting more business done is the top priority.
Bernardo Silva’s departure from Man City is highly unlikely, Football Insider understands, having been given captain duties by the manager, but several other high-profile players could still leave.
Mateo Kovacic, John Stones, Ederson, Ilkay Gundogan, James McAtee, and Jack Grealish are all heavily linked, but it is unclear which players Guardiola wants to keep around for the next campaign.
Whatever happens, next season must be a huge improvement on the previous one, having gone without silverware since the manager’s first season in England.