Kalvin Phillips left ‘peed off’ from impact of Pep Guardiola weight comments at Man City

Manchester City loanee Kalvin Phillips has opened up about his frustration over the constant focus on his weight, which began after a surprise comment from Pep Guardiola.

The England midfielder, who has joined Ipswich Town on a season-long deal, revealed he became "peed off" with clubs always bringing up his weight during talks. Guardiola suggested in public that Phillips returned from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar overweight – a remark that has followed him ever since.

Speaking on the My Mate's A Footballer podcast (via The Mirror) alongside former Leeds United team-mate Patrick Bamford, Phillips explained how this public claim led to a ripple effect. And though Pep has since apologised for his words, it hasn't stopped his player being subject to a recurring theme.

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"You probably heard about the time when Pep came out and said that I was overweight after the World Cup and stuff," Phillips said. "And I think that narrative on social media just kind of grew and grew. Every club that I'd go to, I spoke to, like the manager and the nutritionist and stuff like that, they'd always speak about weight before they'd say anything else.

"And it got to the point where it peed me off a little bit. I was getting quite frustrated with it, but then now I've come to Ipswich like the manager's an unbelievable person as well as a manager. We spoke about all my past stuff that happened in my career and stuff like that.

"He said, 'I'm big on body composition and I just want you to get to where you was when you left Leeds or when you was