'He's my inspiration' - Kalvin Phillips plots Jack Grealish-style comeback at Man City

Kalvin Phillips is hoping to emulate Manchester City teammate Jack Grealish as he plots a far better second season at the Etihad than his first.

Phillips joined from Leeds last summer for £42m, but only played 21 times as his debut campaign was plagued with injury and poor form. After the World Cup, Pep Guardiola publicly stated that Phillips was overweight, with the England midfielder taking exception with that assessment this week.

The next season will be a big one for Phillips, who will hope for more game time after a frustrating year that saw him wait until May for his first Premier League start.

So it's no surprise that he's looking to the turnaround from Grealish as an example of how a bad first year can be turned around to play an important role in his second year at City.

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Phillips has been promoting his upcoming documentary which charts his move from Leeds to City, and has told TalkSport how he is looking to Grealish as an example of turning his fortunes around at the Etihad.

“I’ve known Jack for years, I’ve played against him for years and he’s very much a family man as well," he said.

“Loves his family, keeps them very close and he’s obviously had his tough times when he was younger as well. Our career paths have basically taken the same step but just a year apart, and I kind of look at Jack and just think he’s my inspiration in this part.

“He had a tough first year and so did I, second year he came out firing so I’m looking forward to getting pre-season started and hopefully I can turn things around.”

Phillips also admitted that he has learned more than he expected to under Guardiola - echoing sentiments from Grealish a year ago, when