Man City may have transfer regret after latest Kalvin Phillips injury setback

Erling Haaland is banging goals in at a remarkable rate, Julian Alvarez is adapting to life on a new continent well, Sergio Gomez is settling in and Manuel Akanji has seamlessly fitted into the back line. Things are going brilliantly for Manchester City's summer signings. Except for Kalvin Phillips.

The midfielder has managed just 14 minutes of action since he arrived at City from Leeds in a £44million move in the summer. One minute came in the Premier League and the other 13 in the Champions League. Phillips came to the Etihad knowing that it would be hard to get in the side over Rodri, but given he's virtually never been available to play, it's been even harder.

Phillips has come on in every game he has been named on the bench for since the season began, but that's only been three occasions. He was declared 'not quite match fit' for Saturday's trip to Wolves but it's since transpired that he needs surgery to fix a shoulder issue. The 26-year-old suffered two serious shoulder injuries while at Leeds and it was aggravated again in last month's friendly at Barcelona.

READ MORE: Guardiola responds to Phillips injury setback

Now Phillips faces a significant period on the sidelines and will be in a race to make November's World Cup. An absolute nightmare start.

The Leeds native was signed in the wake of captain Fernandinho's departure to provide quality backup for Rodri and to offer Pep Guardiola tactical flexibility if he ever wants to play two-holding midfielders. His continued unavailability means those options have been impossible, with Rodri starting every game, and the Blues boss admits it has been frustrating.

"Absolutely [it's been frustrating] – for us as well. We need him because Rodri cannot play all the games,