It seemed like Kalvin Phillips was openly disagreeing with his own manager when he disputed Pep Guardiola's claims that the midfielder returned from the World Cup 'overweight' this week.
Phillips had been injured in the run-up to the World Cup in November and December, making his comeback in time to play for England in Qatar. After a brief holiday, Phillips returned to City, but Guardiola made headlines when he claimed that his midfielder was too overweight to train.
The former Leeds man returned to the matchday squad the following game, and was available for the rest of the season, but struggled to convince Guardiola he deserved to play more. And this week, Phillips suggested that while he respected Guardiola's opinion, he disagreed that he was overweight after coming back from the World Cup.
Now, in another interview, Phillips has moved to clarify the situation, saying his travel arrangements back from his holiday were partly to blame for falling slightly outside the weight required by the manager.
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"A lot of people think when somebody says you're overweight that it means you're five or six kilograms overweight," he told Sky Sports.
"But it was just the fact that I'd gone away to New York and flown back and had the whole day, then was reporting to training at the end of the day.
"I'd had a full day of eating and when I stood on the scales I was two or three kilograms heavier, so Pep wasn't too happy which is perfectly understandable because you're more likely to get injured, and especially with my track record that season of being injured he wasn't too happy about it, which I totally agree with. So it's lesson learned and it won't happen again."
Phillips also opened up on his first conversation with Guardiola after signing, and how he failed to follow his manager's only instruction, even if that was through little fault of his own.
"When I first went to Man City, Pep pulled me into his office," Phillips said. "He asked if I'd settled in well and needed anything to just let him know. He said he only wants one thing from me, and that's not to get injured. And then I got injured.
"It was difficult. Obviously I wasn't playing and it was difficult and that was annoying, but it was more the fact that I wanted to play. City had just bought me for 'x' amount of money, so I wanted to show that appreciation for giving me the chance to play for Manchester City.
"My first season at City was always going to be difficult, especially when you're injured as well," he said.
"Even when I was on the bench, you're trying to understand the way Pep wanted us to play and just try to take in as much information as possible.
"I finally got to play a few games towards the end of the season as well which was very nice, and I was just happy to be involved in such a great team and go on the run we did at the end of the season."
