Kalvin Phillips makes West Ham United transfer decision, he’s informed Pep Guardiola

Manchester City midfielder Kalivin Phillips has decided to remain at the Premier League champions despite West Ham showing interest in him as a Declan Rice replacement, according to Claret and Hugh.

The outlet reported (12 July) that the England international has informed City manager Pep Guardiola that he will not leave the club after playing just 290 minutes of Premier League football last season [Transfermarkt].

Phillips could have come to the London Stadium as a vital Declan Rice replacement, but David Moyes looks set to miss out on the treble-winner.

Despite his £42million move to Manchester City last summer [Sky Sports], Phillips has not made a significant impression for the Citizens in their historic treble-winning campaign.

Moyes hoped that this lack of game time may convince the 27-year-old to swap Manchester for London after he failed to secure his services last summer [Daily Mail].

However, it would only be natural for the former Leeds United man to give himself more time to establish himself and make an impact. He may be looking at the development and integration of Jack Grealish as a hopeful reminder that Guardiola often takes his time to fold a player into regular football.

Regardless of his low-profile season, he has still regularly made Gareth Southgate’s England squad after a fantastic Euros in 2021 and of course still has the ability to perform in the Premier League. Manchester City is just such a competitive environment that Phillips may have fallen through the cracks being behind the likes of Rodri.

But West Ham fans may be disappointed to see this transfer debunked. He would have been a good Rice replacement. While no player can match Rice’s profile for his age and within West Ham’s budget, a proven Premier League midfielder who can reclaim possession and progress play could have helped fill this void.

Phillips will hope he can get his Manchester City career kicking next season, but it is not shocking that he declined the move. West Ham meanwhile must continue their quest to replace their captain.

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Over a week has now passed since Arsenal “reached total agreement with West Ham to sign Declan Rice”, and it has still not yet been announced that he has signed.

Yesterday it was leaked that West Ham did not have a clue what was going on. That the medical was completed and contracts agree, but the paperwork was sitting with Arsenal’s lawyers.

It is interesting that after so much noise in the media, once a deal became close silence filled the space.

As we discussed previously, it was important to ignore the noise, or at the least understand where it was coming from.

All the leaks prior to the deal were coming from the West Ham side. And likewise, the story that “the paperwork is with Arsenal’s lawyers” has also come from their side.

There is plenty of speculation as to the reasoning Rice has not yet been announced. Here we will try and unpack those theories

Arsenal playing silly buggers

Play silly buggers in British Englishslang. to fool around and waste time.

During the negotiations, there was plenty of discussion about West Ham trying to manipulate the market in an attempt to up the price.

Stories kept flowing from their side that Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich were “on the verge of bidding”. In the end, only City bid, and that was swiftly rejected.