Paris Saint-Germain have reportedly joined the lawsuit for Kalvin Phillips, following a war of words between Manchester City and Newcastle United over the terms of the deal.
Phillips has struggled to gain momentum since leaving Leeds for City in the summer of 2022. In his 12 Premier League appearances last season, he was only on the pitch for 290 minutes.
It looks like this season’s total will be even lower, as he has yet to surpass one hundred minutes in the league.
It is possible that it will soon be proven that he will not meet the number of minutes of the last campaign through a transfer.
Indeed, Pep Guardiola has all but confirmed that Phillips won’t be in his plans for the future after admitting he “struggles to see him” in his side and reports have backed up that he’s likely to leave.
Newcastle are one of the clubs that have a chance to catch him. Their promise as a club, coupled with the existing midfield crisis, means that St James’ Park may be the most productive position for Phillips to recover.
TEAMtalk recently revealed the Magpies were in advanced talks over a January move.
However, sources later said City insisted on assigning Newcastle the responsibility of buying Phillips at the end of the loan, something they are not yet in a position to fulfill.
Newcastle may be willing to buy the midfielder at the end of the loan if they are successful, but they need to be forced to do so.
Their unwillingness to sign Phillips permanently could allow them to lose out on him altogether.
In fact, according to the Telegraph, PSG are now in the running for the January signing.
If they’re willing to spend cash on a player City don’t want, it’s hard to see how they don’t settle for that decision.
Phillips desperately wants to have more time to play than he has lately. It is well known that he hopes to be part of England’s squad for this year’s Euros, and the consistent minutes will prove it.
As such, he will move away from City but may not need to move to PSG.
They have a lot of skill in midfield, and just because they need him doesn’t mean they’re going to sign him – City made that mistake by signing him.
Moving on to the league could do more harm than intelligence to Phillips if he simply sat on the bench.
A move to Newcastle seems as if it will guarantee a lot of minutes, so he’ll likely be hopeful they get the deal over the line – in whatever capacity – before PSG can.
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