West Ham United could offer a sensational swap deal for Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips which will include Declan Rice.
According to a report via Caught Offside, Declan Rice could be offered to Manchester City as West Ham United are very keen to renew their interest in Kalvin Phillips.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Phillips since his multi-million-pound move to the defending champions this summer. He has been limited to just one minute of Premier League experience as Pep Guardiola publicly declared the midfielder was overweight following his return to the club after the World Cup.
Phillips is now facing an uncertain future and the Hammers could come to his rescue as the London giants are contemplating making an offer for the player. They are destined to lose Rice next summer while Tomas Soucek has struggled for consistency paving the way for another combative presence in the midfield.
City initially paid £42 million for the 27-year-old but he has drastically fallen in the pecking order. ExWHUEmployee insisted the club could consider offering another player alongside Rice to entice Phillips to the London Stadium.
“They’ve been talking about Kalvin Phillips again in the press.
“Kalvin Phillips is someone that West Ham, David Moyes especially, 100% rates. I know categorically, factually, that we spoke about signing him in the summer and in January before that, that we really, really wanted [him].
“I get the feeling that patience is running thin with him and I’ve always said that it wouldn’t surprise me if Man City were to offer Phillips in exchange for Rice at the end of the season.
“I wouldn’t even be surprised if they chucked in another player potentially, but I can’t name them now. Another fringe player possibly into that deal to try and tempt West Ham.”
Arsenal are also believed to be interested in Rice but a deal in January seems very unlikely. The Gunners will have to take a stock of the current situation but West Ham could intensify their efforts in the next few days.
Phillips arrived at City having suffering an injury the previous season at Leeds. He aggravated it before kicking a ball in anger. He went off for surgery and was in the process of recovering and gaining his fitness levels but the world cup interrupted his return. Whilst away on World cup duty he wasn’t training to the levels he would have at City hence Peps comments of being over weight. He’s now back up to the level of being a sub at the club. A mountain is being made out of a mole hill by the media over the whole episode.