Kalvin Phillips Reveals How He Felt When Guardiola Called Him “Overweight”

Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips has admitted that it was “a little hard to take” that Pep Guardiola called him an “overweight” player.

Guardiola decided not to play Phillips in a Carabao Cup encounter against Liverpool in December because, in Guardiola’s words, he was “in no condition to play” and was “overweight” after representing England at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Phillips only appeared in four games for Manchester City before leaving for Qatar in November to compete for England in the World Cup.

When he first joined from Leeds United in a £45 million transfer last summer, he had a history of sustaining injuries.

These struggles are detailed in the documentary ‘Kalvin Phillips: The Road To City’, which will debut on Amazon Prime on July 19.

The England midfielder admitted on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Breakfast show that he didn’t agree with Guardiola’s comments at the time, but he worked hard and made 21 appearances for City as they won the Treble in his first season at the club.

“For me, I wasn’t overweight, but obviously the manager has seen it in a very different way,” Kalvin Phillips said.

“I just took it and did my best to get as fit as possible.”

He added: “It was a little hard to take just because of how much it was oversized and how many people started talking about it.

“I was on the bench for the Leeds game straight after that and I was fit every match since then.

“It was just one of those things, it was a misunderstanding between me and some staff members. You will see a lot more in the documentary.”