West Ham Manager David Moyes Reveals Outbidding Manchester City For New Signing

Since Manchester City’s takeover by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008, the club have been brandished as mere lavish spenders.

While the Sky Blues’ major investment over the years is indisputable, it is unfair to overlook their business-savvy ways in the market.

Despite Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy having been unwilling to sanction Harry Kane’s sale last summer, Manchester City also chose not to be pushovers by putting in an unprecedented bid to sign the-then potential successor to Sergio Agüero.

Nor did the Premier League champions try to get ahead of the rest in the footrace to sign Erling Haaland by breaking the bank, as his reasonable £51 million release clause was set to be activated after the end of the 2021/22 season.

Much like how Pep Guardiola’s side wrapped up a deal for the most coveted young striker for less than half of his true market rate, a parallel can be made with the club adding Kalvin Phillips to their ranks for £42 million from Leeds United.

For a matter of time, it seemed like the biggest obstacle remained the price tag - which was widely claimed to be in excess of £50 million.

However, Leeds supporters have expressed their displeasure at the price tag accepted by the club to sell the talismanic midfielder.

Being one of the Premier League’s best defensive midfielders and now a staple in Gareth Southgate’s starting XI for England, the fanbase have struggled to understand how Manchester City have secured his services for such a fair fee.

While some may disagree with Kalvin Phillips being a bargain, West Ham manager David Moyes’ new revelation about his club's bid for the now-Manchester City recruit could change a certain section of sceptics’ minds.

"We bid more than that," said David Moyes, disappointed, during a new interview with the Daily Mail.

"We’re trying to be competitive with the big teams.

"If we can’t, we have to find another way of keeping up with them."

Despite the Hammers not being recognised as part of the traditional ‘Big Six’ in the Premier League, the fact that the Whites demanded a price north of the eventual £42 million fee is an insight into the player’s true market value.

David Moyes on #ManCity signing Kalvin Phillips for £42M: “We [West Ham] bid more than that [in January]…” [via @MailSport]

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) July 8, 2022

Taking West Ham as an example themselves, David Moyes once publicly stated that the in-demand Declan Rice would be sold for a staggering fee of £150 million.

With Phillips being often compared to Rice in the debate for who is the best English defensive midfielder currently, it is mind-bogglingly astute business from Manchester City to sign the latter for a fee that is not even half of what has been quoted for the former.

While City could flex their financial muscle on several occasions, their unrivalled understanding of the market is what ensures that they get enviable deals such as those involving Kalvin Phillips over the line consistently.