Ornstein confirms Tottenham, Newcastle blow as West Ham reach midfielder ‘agreement’ | OneFootball

Kalvin Phillips celebrates winning the Club World Cup.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein has confirmed that West Ham and Manchester City have reached an ‘agreement’ for Kalvin Phillips to move on loan for the rest of the season.

Phillips has fallen down the pecking order at Man City under Pep Guardiola, not that he was a regular anyway, with the England international yet to start a Premier League match this campaign.

Guardiola convinced Phillips he could become a key member of his squad ahead of the new campaign but the signings of Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes have seen him struggle even more this term.

And now Phillips is set to leave the Etihad Stadium in January with reports of interest from Tottenham and Newcastle – but it now appears like West Ham have won the race for his signature, barring any last-minute bids from Serie A side Juventus.

Ornstein wrote on The Athletic: ‘West Ham United have reached an agreement with Manchester City to sign midfielder Kalvin Phillips on loan for the remainder of the season.

‘Phillips, 28, has been made available for loan by City, with Juventus exploring a potential deal, but there is no agreement with the Italian club at this stage.

‘Personal terms are not expected to be a problem, with West Ham covering Phillips’ salary. There is no option to make the move permanent.

‘The England international is flying back to England with the rest of the City squad from Abu Dhabi after completing a warm-weather training camp.’

Former Manchester City and Sheffield United midfielder Michael Brown has warned Phillips to “tread with caution” over a potential move to West Ham.

Brown said on BBC Radio Five Live: “I think, what I would do, is I would probably look at it from Kalvin Phillips and say, there are some great players around, there is still a little bit of uncertainty, bit of sort of negativity around the manager.

“If I am Kalvin Phillips, I am looking and saying, ‘Well, yes, I want to make the summer in Gareth Southgate’s squad, yes, I want to play as much as I possibly can, but I would also be thinking, can it go wrong for me? Is there a competition in midfield? Is there a club that I can go and sign for four years that definitely want me and I want to move forward.

“I think that would be the only thing that I would say is does Kalvin Phillips need to go on a loan in this period of time when his stock is high? Yes, he is not playing, yes, he has got a summer tournament, but I would say, I would tread with caution on that one.”