Phillips seals loan move with surprising clause

Robin Bairner

• 22 Jan 2024 11:50 GMT
• 3 min read

West Ham United are set to complete a loan move for Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips, with David Moyes’ side having beat competition from several Premier League rivals to secure the England midfielder.

Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Fulham were among the teams who had been pursuing a move for Phillips this month, with the 28-year-old seeking first-team football in a bid to win a place in England’s Euro 2024 squad.

Barcelona were also interested in the midfielder but could not afford even a loan deal.

He has been desperate to broker a move away from City this month, having made just 10 appearances across all competitions and only four in the Premier League for the treble winners.

Transfer expert Alan Nixon has revealed via his Patreon that West Ham have finally secured the services of the player.

Phillips to West Ham: The details

West Ham will pay the player’s wages and a bonus, Nixon has announced, but surprisingly there will be no option to buy in the deal. This means that Phillips will return to Man City at the end of the season.

It had previously been reported that the Etihad club asked Newcastle for a £7 million (€8m) loan fee on top of the player’s wages and it is unclear whether the Hammers will stump up that kind of figure.

On top of this demand, manager Eddie Howe was also uncertain over Phillips’ suitability to his style plus his ability to play back-to-back matches after being a substitute for the vast majority of his 18 months at Man City.

And it is precisely this lack of playing time that makes it surprising that City have not put a buyout clause in the loan deal with West Ham.

Phillips is clearly a player who is not in the long-term plans of manager Pep Guardiola, and while he may well see his Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €19 million rise off the back of regular playing time, City are unlikely to fetch the €49m fee they paid Leeds for him in the summer of 2022.