"I'm told" - Journalist drops intriguing Pep Guardiola behind-scenes claim at Manchester City

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola can hardly contain his excitement at the prospect of working with Kalvin Phillips, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

The Leeds midfielder is on the verge of becoming City’s second summer addition and Jones reckons that Guardiola is confident the England star can make the Premier League champions even better.

After months of uncertainty surrounding his Elland Road future, City appear to have beaten off competition from Manchester United and co. to win the race for Phillips following ‘positive discussions’ in recent days.

According to The Athletic, the Citizens have reached an agreement with Leeds, which will see the 26-year-old follow Erling Haaland through the entrance door.

The report states that City will pay the Yorkshire club £42m, with bonuses potentially taking the deal to £45m for Phillips, who was the club’s top midfield target.

With Phillips catching the eye since Leeds’ promotion to the Premier League, while also being one of the standout players at Euro 2020, Jones reckons that Guardiola is thrilled to get him on board.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Pep Guardiola has become more excited by this deal in the past few weeks, he’s been doing more homework on him, he’s been looking at more tapes, more stats that have been fed to him.

“And I’m told that he’s so excited about Phillips coming into this team and thinks that he will improve the level even further from where they were at last season, so this is a great signing to get through the door this early.”

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Providing Guardiola continues operating with a 4-3-3 next season, Phillips will be competing against Rodri for a starting place in the Spaniard’s side.