Jurgen Klopp's January plan in doubt as Liverpool fear rivals will hijack deal

05 November 2023 , 17:57

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Kalvin Phillips has struggled for football at Man City (Image: 2023 Getty Images)

Tottenham have joined Liverpool in the race to sign out-of-favour Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips in January.

Klopp held an interest in Phillips earlier this summer and while the Reds wanted to formalise this interest, no offer was ever lodged. It came amid a major midfield restructuring at Anfield over the summer.

The Reds agreed on a £110million deal with Brighton to sign Moises Caicedo but the midfielder instead joined Chelsea, where Romeo Lavia also ended up after prolonged interest from the Merseyside club. There was also prolonged interest in Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram, while Sofyan Amrabat opted to join Manchester United.

Despite missing out on many of their key targets, the Reds did land Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch, but it was amid a flood of exits with Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain among those to move on.

Things have not exactly gone to plan for Phillips since he joined City from Leeds just over a year ago; the midfielder started just four games across all competitions last season and played just 290 minutes – the equivalent of three full matches – across the entirety of the Premier League campaign.

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It has been a similar theme for Phillips this term, playing 89 minutes across four substitute appearances in the Premier League and Champions League, while his start against Newcastle in the EFL Cup did not go to plan – City lost that game and Phillips has not started since.

While Liverpool have cemented their interest in the midfielder for a January swoop, it has now been reported by the Sun that Tottenham have joined the race for Phillips. The north London club will intensify their interest amid the possibility of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg departing in January.

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Phillips has remained isolated at Man City this season (Alex Caparros/UEFA)

Denmark international Hojbjerg is on the radar of Juventus – who are themselves looking at a possible move for Phillips, amid long-term absences expected for Paul Pogba and Nicolo Fagioli. Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Ham are all believed to be keeping tabs on Phillips.

Following Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Leeds in September 2021, Klopp revealed shutting down Phillips was central to his game plan in Liverpool's comfortable success at Elland Road. Speaking at the time, the German said: "Our idea was to cut out Phillips, which is important, and to cut out the passes they want to play to find him in the centre and that takes out a bit of their game plan."

Colin Millar