Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol has named who he thinks is the most underrated player he's played with at the club – and it may not be who you expect.
Gvardiol joined City from RB Leipzig in 2023. The Croatian has already played with some of the best players in the Premier League, including Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne.
At the international level, he has shared the pitch with Luka Modric to add to his impressive list of teammates.
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However, not everyone he has shared the pitch with is held in such high regard.
That's he case for the player he chose when asked who he thinks is the most underrated player at City.
"Probably Kalvin Phillips," Gvardiol told Pro Direct Soccer’s YouTube channel.
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Despite only featuring in the same team on four occasions, the 22-year-old was keen to praise Phillips.
“First of all, he’s a nice lad… and his quality on the ball and off the ball,” he added.
“I think he deserves more attention. But yeah, that’s football, and sometimes it’s not the way we want it.”
Phillips joined City in 2022 after impressing at Leeds United – where he was an academy graduate.
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However, things did not go as he may have liked during his time under Pep Guardiola.
Despite costing a fee of £42m, it was clear that the City boss never trusted the England international.
A combination of injuries and general poor form meant he was loaned to West Ham United for the second half of last season.
He failed to impress in east London and returned to City last summer.
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With Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan and Matheus Nunes all seemingly ahead of Phillips in the midfield pecking order, he was loaned to newly promoted Ipswich Town in August 2024.
A fairly publicised issue at City was when Guardiola referred to Phillips as “overweight” after he returned from the 2022 World Cup with England.
The City boss has since apologised, but the damage to Phillips’ reputation remains.
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Although the pair may have settled their differences, Phillips admitted this has caused “every club” he’s played for to mention the issue at some point.
Topics: Josko Gvardiol, Kalvin Phillips, Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Football
Luke Alfred Davies