West Ham United remain interested in signing Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City, 90min understands, and are also eyeing team-mate Kyle Walker.
The 27-year-old joined City from Leeds last summer, penning a six-year contract, but has made just eight substitute appearances under Pep Guardiola – the equivalent of 3% of the minutes available to him this season.
A shoulder injury did rule Phillips out of action for just shy of two months prior to the World Cup, but Rodri’s place at the base of midfield hasn’t really come under threat at any point.
90min revealed at the end of March that Phillips is contemplating his future at City, who are chasing a third successive Premier League title under Guardiola. West Ham are known admirers of Phillips and made a cheeky bid to sign him towards the end of the 2022 January transfer window – when he was still a Leeds player.
That bid was turned down, as was an offer for team-mate Raphinha, but Phillips has remained on West Ham’s radar despite going on to join City.
Guardiola was asked about Phillips’ future prior to City’s Premier League clash with Leeds, where he put the emphasis on the player to prove that he wants to stay at the Etihad.
“It depends on the players,” Guardiola said. “At the end we’re here, I try to be honest with the questions and my feelings.
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“My feelings sometimes change. But at the end it belongs to the players, they have to convince themselves and the team and not because I say something. Teams change a lot and players for previous seasons who were incredibly important but this season less important. It’s how they perform, many things can happen.”
90min understands that West Ham are making their interest in Phillips known, as they prepare for bids to come in this summer for captain Declan Rice.
Arsenal and Chelsea are both interested in signing the 24-year-old, who the Hammers value at around £100m, while City themselves have renewed their interest in the event of Phillips, Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva departing.
West Ham have also made noises about City full-back Kyle Walker, who is no longer a regular starter under Guardiola. The Spaniard recently said that the former Tottenham star ‘cannot play’ in his revamped tactical system – which demands full-backs to invert and play in central areas – and has fallen behind John Stones and Manuel Akanji in the pecking order.
City have also been hugely impressed by the emergence of Rico Lewis, who they are preparing…
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