Ipswich agree season-long loan deal for Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City

Ipswich and Manchester City have come to an agreement for a season-long loan deal for Kalvin Phillips. He is close to joining Ipswich as he tries to revive his career with the recently promoted club.

The English player is looking for consistent playing time after two disappointing seasons at City, which included an unsuccessful loan at West Ham this year. Now he has the opportunity to start fresh with Kieran McKenna, who views his signing as a big move towards building a competitive team.

Phillips is set to have a medical in Ipswich on Thursday. If everything goes smoothly, he may be able to play against Liverpool at Portman Road on Saturday. This will be Ipswich's first Premier League match since 2002. After earning two promotions in a row, they have promised to be ambitious in the transfer market. Their biggest signing so far has been the £20m deal for Chelsea forward Omari Hutchinson. However, the move for Phillips, who has represented his country 31 times, will definitely grab attention outside of Suffolk.

Everton and Fulham were also keen on signing Phillips, who joined City on their pre-season trip to the US and performed well playing as a centre-back, a position he was not accustomed to. Even though he still had four years on his City contract, it was evident that his future was elsewhere. Pep Guardiola doubted whether he had the necessary technical skills to fit their playing style and famously criticized him for returning from the World Cup overweight in December 2022. Phillips has played a total of 31 games for City, with only six of those being from the start.

McKenna will try to bring out the best in Phillips, who became a star player at Leeds. The 28-year-old played a crucial role in England's journey to the Euro 2020 final and he may be looking to regain his top form at Ipswich in order to boost his chances of playing for the national team again. His last game was as a substitute in a draw against North Macedonia in November, and he was not selected for the Euro 2024 squad.

Ipswich will continue to be active in the transfer market despite facing both challenges and victories. They are still in need of reinforcement in their attacking positions and have been in pursuit of Blackburn's Sammie Szmodics for a while. Napoli midfielder Jens Cajuste, who was almost signed by Brentford before the deal fell through, is also a target for loan, but it is uncertain if the club will proceed with temporary deals for both him and Phillips.