Kalvin Phillips still has two years left on his Manchester City contract but it's easy to forget he is even still at the club.
Kalvin Phillips could be set for another loan move away this summer
Kalvin Phillips could be set for another loan move away this summer
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"I'm a person who works hard and never gives up on what I believe I can do," Kalvin Phillips told Sky Sports back in February. "I just need to play football to get back to my former self. Once I get up and firing, I'll feel a lot better and a lot more confident.
"Any player in my situation would say not playing has been the major reason for a dip. So many players have stayed at clubs for so long without playing, and their careers have fizzled out. I didn't want that to happen."
If Phillips was worried his career would fizzle out had he stayed at Manchester City, it's hardly sparked into life away from the Etihad.
The midfielder was brought to City in a £45million deal back in 2022 to provide competition and backup for Rodri, but his time in Manchester has been nothing short of a disaster.
Injuries and poor form have meant Phillips has played just 16 league games for City in his four years at the club. In fact, he has played more Premier League games for loan clubs (19 for Ipswich in 2024/25 and eight for West Ham in 2023/24) than he has for City since arriving at the Etihad.
In what has become something of a staple of City's transfer windows of late, Phillips will be looking for a way out of the club over the coming months.
A loan move yet again seems to be the obvious route out, with Sheffield United said to be interested in bringing the midfielder back to Bramall Lane, where Phillips spent the second half of last season in another injury-hit spell.
One thing that is clear is Phillips simply has to get the next move of his career right. The pressure to choose the right club has increased with every failed temporary spell away, and his most recent loan move to Bramall Lane didn't prove to be the springboard Phillips hoped it would when he signed for Sheffield United in February.
The City midfielder has two years remaining on his current deal and if he does secure another temporary exit this summer then he'll hope to make the move permanent next year and bring down the curtain on a rotten stint in Manchester.
It's impossible to envisage City selling Phillips this summer, but a loan move could take the player a step closer to ending his association with the club.
'What next for Kalvin Phillips?' is a question that has been asked plenty of times in recent years. It's a saga nobody saw coming, but one that both parties would be keen to bring to an end.
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