It’s been a reasonably quiet summer for Man City in terms of transfers, albeit their most recent – Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid – is likely to have stung Pep Guardiola.
The Argentinian was a superb addition to have in the squad and a more than adequate substitute for Erling Haaland. Therein lay the problem of course, and no one can blame Alvarez for making the leap to La Liga to play under countryman, Diego Simeone.
Any other deals apart from Savinho have been the return of players from their loans.
Man City hoping to move on Kalvin Phillips
Joao Cancelo will likely still be hoping that he can get at least another season at Barcelona, but as the days tick by that’s looking more and more unlikely, whilst Kalvin Phillips, fresh from a disaster of a loan at West Ham, has to resurrect his fading career somehow.
The 28-year-old England international won’t look back with any fondness at all on his time in East London.
His first three contributions to the club were to give away two goals and get himself sent off, and he never really recovered from that, his confidence shot to pieces.
It’s no wonder that City seemingly can’t wait to get rid of him again, and the Manchester Evening News note that all of Everton, Fulham and Ipswich Town are interested in doing a deal with the current Premier League champions.
That could be a permanent switch though it’s understood that City would be open to another loan move for a player who is clearly surplus to requirements.
From Phillips’ own point of view, there’s every reason to believe that under the right manager and with the right playing conditions, he could still be a worthwhile hire, and with a fortnight left of the current transfer window, there’s plenty of time to get a deal over the line.