In their friendly loss to Barcelona, Kalvin Phillips, a target for Everton, missed a penalty, which was another blow to his Manchester City future.
The 28-year-old is trying to go back to the form that got him started for England in the Euro 2020 campaign, and he has been linked to a temporary move to Goodison Park for some time. Throughout his time at City, he has been limited by injuries, which has prevented him from gaining Pep Guardiola’s faith.
After a 2-2 draw against the Spanish team last night in Orlando, Barcelona prevailed 4-1 in penalties. In a sad game finale, Phillips missed alongside 18-year-old academy prospect Jacob Wright. The 20-year-old Ander Astralaga dove to his right to easily save a meek effort from the former Leeds United player. After a difficult two years after joining from Leeds, Phillips’ penalty was the ideal illustration of how low in confidence he is. Despite having only started five league games in his two seasons, Marcelo Biesla has praised him as one of the league’s top defensive midfielders and deep-lying passers. Going out on loan to revive his career at West Ham United was one possible alternative, but he
Nevertheless, Everton have been linked with a move on loan for a few windows and with Amadou Onana signing for Aston Villa this summer, Phillips would be a good option to have to replace him, albeit temporarily. However, Villa could foil them again as they have reportedly submitted a loan offer for him. TalkSPORT’s Gabby Agbonlahor has claimed that he should turn down a move to Villa as he won’t play regularly compared to Everton, were there is less competition.
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