Kalvin Phillips has been warned he could go to the World Cup and not play a minute. The former Leeds United midfielder has struggled with injuries since making the big switch to Manchester City in the summer.
Fresh from an impressive Euro 2020 tournament with the Three Lions, Phillips managed just 20 Premier League appearances for the Whites, with injuries impacting his game time. That disruption to his campaign coincided with Leeds' struggles domestically.
Phillips made the reported £45million move to the Etihad in the summer, but has managed just one Premier League appearance to date. The lack of game time has seen Jude Bellingham emerge as Gareth Southgate's preferred partner for Declan Rice in the heart of the Three Lions' midfield, with Phillips expected to be on the bench.
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“I am thinking who have we got as a DM, Declan Rice?” Gabby Agbonlahor told talkSPORT. “I think he (Phillips) goes, but he could go and not play a minute.
“No chance (starting Phillips over Bellingham or Rice). I think, when everyone is fit, Phillips wouldn’t start in that midfield. I think it would be Bellingham, Rice and Mount, as a three.
“But, when you get to the latter stages, you might play a Brazil or a France, then you might look at it and think Rice, Phillips and Bellingham. If Phillips was fit, just to add that extra help to the back three, like in the Euros, nothing was getting past them. Cutting off the space.
“But it just scares me, the lack of minutes. I don’t like it.”
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