Broadly, what is the state of play with Nat Phillips going into this summer?
Liverpool head into the summer once again looking to offload Nat Phillips. It's something they've tried to do for the last three or four years and he's been on the cusp of moves away a few times, only for them to fall through for various reasons.
An injury to Ibrahima Konate in pre-season last summer was the most recent reason he was made to stay put and Liverpool rejected a £7m offer from Watford in January.
If Liverpool are open to him leaving permanently, what’s it going to take to get the deal done? Has there historically been a lot of interest in his services through past transfer windows?
Liverpool have perhaps asked for too much for Phillips at times. In their defence, he was a major reason they were able to claim a Champions League spot in 2020/21 as he stepped up manfully, playing 17 times during a centre-back injury crisis.
Those performances have led to Liverpool demanding between £12m and 15m for him, but it seems the tide is turning there and Phillips only played five times across all competitions last season. I haven't had this confirmed to me, but an offer of around £10m should surely do it this summer.
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Seventy senior appearances at 26 years old shows how little football Phillips has played in his career. Why hasn’t a permanent exit from Liverpool materialised before now?
As mentioned, it seems as though Liverpool's valuation has not matched those of interested parties. He's never going to break into the team permanently at Anfield with the centre-back options they have, however.
There appears to have been a string of impasses, whereby teams have tried to get him 'on the cheap' as it were and Liverpool have been reluctant to do business as a result. The time to cash in on Phillips from their perspective was two years ago. He won't be bringing in a significant sum now.
He has always had admirers. Burnley, Watford and Bournemouth have all looked at him in recent times, but Liverpool have refused to budge too much on the price despite the defender's path to the first team being blocked.
In the time you have watched him and heard stories about him off the field, what would you say are his biggest strengths and weaknesses?
His biggest strength is undoubtedly his aerial ability. Phillips is awesome in the air and his particular skillset is perfect for a side who want to defend deep and be robust.
His ability on the ball is perhaps underrated, but there's little doubt he is not 'Liverpool level' for the long term, if that is not being too harsh. He would be ideal further down the league and I am convinced he can be one of the best centre-halves in the Championship.
His biggest weakness is his lack of pace. Playing a high line at Anfield exposed that, but for a team sitting further behind the ball, he is a very interesting prospect.
That short loan at Bournemouth seemed to underline his Championship credentials.
He was a big part of their promotion push for the second half of that season when he went on loan. If you're a side that leaks goals, like Leeds have during their Premier League return, Phillips is someone who will combat that.
