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The former Leeds United midfielder has played just seven minutes of football for Manchester City so far this season.
Former Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips could make just his second Manchester City appearance of the season when they face Swansea City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Phillips is still building fitness after missing the entirety of City’s pre-season, having undergone surgery on an Achilles injury at the end of the 2024/25 campaign. That long-term absence also effectively killed hope of a summer move away for the 29-year-old, who was expected to be exiled from the first-team picture in Manchester.
The midfielder has just seven minutes of competitive football under his belt, which came off the bench against Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup’s previous round. That appearance brought to an end a 21-month spell in which Phillips failed to play a single minute for City, a period which the former Leeds man spent mostly on loan at West Ham United and Ipswich Town.
Despite no Premier League opportunities, Phillips has continued to train with the first-team and with Rodri unavailable, the 2019/20 Leeds Championship title winner could get more minutes at Swansea. But according to manager Pep Guardiola, a place in the starting line-up isn’t likely.
"Start no, but maybe travel with us,” Guardiola told the Manchester Evening News of Phillips ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Wales. “He is a player for the squad who is coming back, he trains with us. We treat him like any other player. He belongs to us. He's always an invaluable guy, it's a joy to have him in the locker room."
Another positive step for ex-Leeds United man Kalvin Phillips
Even a substitute appearance would be another step in the right direction for Phillips, who has endured a miserable three years at City following his big-money Leeds exit. The combative midfielder has never been able to nail down a first-team place under Guardiola, helped in no part by endless injury issues, and struggled on loan at West Ham and Ipswich.
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Phillips was not expected to be in the squad for last month’s win over Huddersfield, with commitments down in London as his wife prepared to five birth to their second child. But the former Leeds man was able to witness his son Harry arrive before shooting back up north for what must have been a hugely emotional return to action.
In a heartfelt post on his personal Instagram account after that appearance, Phillips wrote: “It’s been a long 3 and a half months out and there’s still work to be done personally. Nevertheless, I’m so happy to be back out on the pitch again in a City shirt. Thank you to the fans for your support, it doesn’t go unnoticed. Onto the next round @mancity”.
“It’s a good moment,” Guardiola said of the midfielder’s return at the time. “Yesterday he was a father to Harry Phillips and he came this morning from London and is now going back to London to his wife and the kids. He came back for a few minutes because we didn’t know the position but the game was controlled. They didn’t make a lot of efforts in behind and that was really good.”
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