Phillips thankful to Ipswich for chance to rekindle career

LONDON : Joining Ipswich Town might have seemed unthinkable for Kalvin Phillips when he was one of the first names on the England team sheet and his career was on a steep upward curve.

But now the 28-year-old former Leeds United midfielder is thankful to the Suffolk club for helping rebuild a career that was going completely off the rails.

Phillips played almost every minute of England's run to the final of the delayed Euro 2020 tournament after bursting on to the international scene under former coach Gareth Southgate.

His rapid rise resulted in a 42 million pounds ($55 million) move to Manchester City in July 2022 but rather than take his game to the next level - Phillips stalled.

City manager Pep Guardiola's comments that Phillips returned from the Qatar World Cup out of shape hardly helped and the following January he was loaned out to West Ham United.

Phillips' stock fell even further there, giving away a goal on his debut, getting sent off in his second league start then being substituted at halftime in his third. He reached a new low in a game at Newcastle United in March when he came on as a substitute with West Ham leading 3-1 and conceded a penalty as the Hammers eventually lost 4-3.

There are positive signs, however, that Phillips has turned a corner since joining promoted Ipswich on loan and Saturday's trip to West Ham offers the chance to prove a few people wrong.

"(When coming to Ipswich) I made a decision that I wanted to play my football, not stress free, but with less stress and less eyes on me maybe," Phillips told former Leeds team mate Patrick Bamford on the My Mate's a Footballer podcast.

"At West Ham I felt like there were quite a lot of eyes on me because it was my first loan move since going to City.