(Football news) Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed that England midfielder Kalvin Phillips returned to the World Cup “overweight” and “not in the right condition to train”. The former Leeds player has made four appearances for the reigning Premier League champions due to a shoulder injury and was initially a doubt for England’s squad in the World Cup. Phillips did not feature in City’s 3-2 win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup while his England team-mates John Stones, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish all made appearances.
When asked why Phillips didn’t feature, Guardiola said “He’s not injured. He arrived overweight. I don’t know [why]. He didn’t arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play.” A reporter went on to ask: “But he has been away with England, with nutritionists, etc…?” Guardiola responded: “No, no, no, no. Absolutely. That’s why he cannot play. When he will be ready, he will play, because we need him, we need him a lot. It’s a private conversation with Kalvin. Ruben Dias is injured. Ruben has a hamstring from the last game in the World Cup and he is out.”
Pep Guardiola also said that City have unearthed a new star in right back Rico Lewis. The 18 year old academy graduate put in a sublime performance in City’s win over Liverpool and also scored in his first senior start against Sevilla in the Champions League early last month. “I have the feeling that without him we could not play the way we played. I’m absolutely really impressed, for a young age, how he played against a real, real senior team. It is not about with-the-ball intelligence, it is about without it.
“We had the privilege to almost announce that this guy will take a big decade, and will be an absolutely incredible player for Manchester City in the next few years because he is so intelligent, so humble. He understands everything in just one second and applies everything. He’s so clever. We have an incredible right full-back with us for the next few years. He always plays good, but not (just) against Liverpool. Liverpool are special, with (Darwin) Nunez, (Mohamed) Salah, Thiago (Alcantara) and (Andy) Robertson on his side. He is 18-years-old and the way he played was outstanding. He was man of the match.”
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