Kalvin Phillips departs Man City - midfielder joins West Ham on loan with no purchase option

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West Ham have completed one of the biggest deals of the January transfer window, after finalising a move for Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips. The England international has been the subject of serious interest from Newcastle and Juventus in January, but instead opted to join the Hammers on loan, with no option to buy at the end of the season. “I’m really pleased to be here,” said Phillips in a club statement on the West Ham website. “There’s always been a lot of speculation about me moving to West Ham, so I’m really excited to get going now. There’s so much to look forward to in the second half of the season for the club and I can’t wait to be part of it. There’s an unbelievable group here and if I can come in and add the quality that I know I’m capable of, I’m sure we can give the West Ham fans plenty to be excited about between now and the end of the season."

The 28-year-old midfielder makes the move to West Ham as their first signing of the January window, having previously spent €138 million on new signings in the summer transfer window. Due in part to the serious investment in new players, David Moyes’ team have somewhat punched above their weight in the Premier League this season, with the Hammers currently sitting sixth in the table. Phillips joins his new club with the expectation of helping the club secure European qualification and bolster a midfield that previously had just one ball-winning midfielder in Edson Álvarez. “We are really pleased to bring a player of Kalvin’s quality to West Ham United,” said Moyes. “We’ve been big admirers of him for a long time and we believe that he will add strength and competition to our squad."

Player Comparison

Kalvin Phillips

Declan Rice

West Ham United

Arsenal FC

€28.00m

Market Value

€110.00m

28

Age

25

Defensive Midfield

Position

Defensive Midfield

Jun 30, 2024

Contract until

Jun 30, 2028

Full Player Comparison

It wasn’t so long ago that Phillips’ talents were being discussed in the same breath as Rice’s, when the defensive midfielder helped guide his hometown club of Leeds United back to the Premier League in 2020 and spend two seasons impressing in the Premier League with the Elland Road side. This led to a number of top clubs fighting over the midfielder’s signature, before Man City eventually convinced Phillips to sign for them in 2022 in a deal worth €49m - which remains Leeds’ second most expensive sale ever.

However, despite plenty of game time in his first season at the club, a serious shoulder injury ruled Phillips out of action for much of the 2022/23 league campaign. By the time the midfielder returned to Pep Guardiola’s team, he found little space to elbow his way back into the starting XI, following the continued excellent performances of Rodri in midfield and an impressive array of other central midfield options such as Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic. As such, Phillips has been deemed surplus to requirement at Man City for some time now and a loan move to West Ham is likely to be an opportunity for him to showcase his talents in the Premier League before making a permanent move away from his parent club in the summer.