Pundit issues ’20 plus’ Kalvin Phillips verdict after Man City injury update
Alan Hutton is adamant Kalvin Phillips will play “20 plus” games for Man City this season.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Tottenham and Aston Villa right-back said Phillips will have to prove to Pep Guardiola that he’s ready for consistent game time.
The 26-year-old was on the bench for City’s opening Premier League game against West Ham last week (7 August).
The England international replaced Rodri for the final ten minutes of the 2-0 win at the London Stadium.
The midfielder missed out on the Cityzens’ 4-0 win over Bournemouth yesterday (13 August) due to injury.
Speaking to club media (12 August), Guardiola confirmed Phillips had “some niggles”.
When asked what Phillips’ role could be this season, Hutton told Football Insider: “I think they do tend to rotate quite often so of course he’ll get game time.
“The thing he won’t be used to is what happened last weekend, first game of the season sitting on the bench.
“Look at Jack Grealish, signed for £100million last year, didn’t play every single week. So I think that’s going to be the same for Phillips. Of course he’ll play 20 plus games which is obviously good for your first season but it’s up to the player.
“He’s got a lot of competition for those positions so he’s going to have to play at a very high level week in week out and in training to show the manager that he’s ready.
“Of course he’s got the ability, it’s down to him. When he’s given the chance he has to take it. The players that are in charge of the strips at the moment are high quality players.“
In other news, a pundit has claimed Man City could now sign Kieran Tierney after journalist’s update.