Phillips is no Maldini! West Ham would be crazy to pay £20m for Liverpool backup

James Shearman

Updated: 8 Dec 2021 18:29 GMT
3 min read

Nathaniel Phillips didn’t foresee ‘any scenario’ which would lead to Liverpool first team — © ProShots

Nat Phillips has been linked with a move to West ham despite his lack of involvement this season with Liverpool.

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The 24-year-old made 15 Premier League starts for Liverpool last campaign as the Reds suffered an injury crisis.

And in doing so he helped them to an unlikely fourth place finish in the absence of Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez.

But, he has featured just three times in all competitions this time around, as those players have since returned, and Ibrahima Konate signed from RB Leipzig last summer.

Phillips did, however, manager a full 90 minutes in Liverpool's 2-1 victory over AC Milan on Tuesday evening.

The 24-year-old impressed with his performance, particularly given his lack of match sharpness, and even pulled off an exquisite Cruyff turn which got the better of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

BT Sport commentator Steve McManaman even had the audacity to compare him to Paolo Maldini.

As such, rumoured interest in the player has resurfaced, with David Moyes' West Ham thought to be looking at the former Stuttgart loanee.

But, here's why signing Phillips might not be such a good idea.

Phillips to West Ham

Phillips had been linked with a move away from Anfield last summer, for a fee of around £15million.

However, the central defender has since signed a new long-term contract, meaning the asking price is now most likely over £20m.

That's an extraordinary figure for a player with 17 top-flight appearances to his name.

Albeit, he has done well when given the chance, but that is nowhere near a large enough sample size to suggest he is able to perform at this level on a consistent basis.

Watching this shitshow from Milan was painful enough…then McManaman goes and compares Nat Phillips to Paolo Maldini 😖😂

I’m done man #MilanLiverpool
— Carlo Garganese (@carlogarganese) December 7, 2021

And at 24 years of age, he isn't exactly a promising youngster that could develop into a much greater player in years to come.

West Ham should be looking to sign players, like Kurt Zouma, who have proven to be quality individuals, just not quite good enough to feature week-in-week-out at a 'top four' side.

James Tarkowski, who is in the final year of his contract at Burnley, provides a far more sensible alternative.

Phillips has the perfect role at Liverpool, a fifth choice to be counted upon when necessary, but if he is to go somewhere else to prove he can perform throughout an entire league campaign, West Ham shouldn't be the team to give him that chance, and certainly not for £20m plus.