Phillips joins Sheffield United on loan – can he revive career?

Sheffield United have signed Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips on loan for the remainder of the season.

The former England international, 30, has fallen out of favour at Etihad Stadium and cleared to join the Championship club for the rest of the 2025-26 campaign.

Phillips’ one and only appearance for City this season came in the final seven minutes their Carabao Cup win against Huddersfield in September.

He joined Pep Guardiola’s side from boyhood club Leeds United on a six-year contract in 2022 in a deal worth £45m.

Phillios, who has 31 caps for his country, has previously been loaned out to Ipswich Town and West Ham.

In December 2022, Guardiola slammed the midfielder for returning from the World Cup “overweight” and “not in the right condition to train”.

Phillips’ trajectory has stalled since joining City from Leeds for £45m in 2022 and he is looking to reignite his career once again.

He has played just seven minutes of football this season, back in September in the Carabao Cup at Huddersfield, and this would be his third loan move after spells at West Ham and Ipswich.

Still only 30, Phillips was a key part of the England squad that reached the final of the 2020 European Championship, where they were beaten on penalties by Italy.

He was named England men’s player of the year in 2021, but won the last of his international caps three years ago.

Phillips has been training with the other City players, but clearly surplus to requirements for a long time now, and still has two-and-a-half years left to run on his contract.

In February 2024, City boss Guardiola apologised for saying Phillips was “overweight” on his return from the Qatar World Cup, with the player later saying the comments were “a big knock to my confidence”.

The writing was on the wall and Phillips has not had a look-in at City this season, despite injuries to midfielders Rodri and Nico Gonzalez.