Manchester United are set to pursue a move for forgotten Manchester City star Kalvin Phillips, though they won't sign him in January.
The England midfielder has barely featuring for the champions since joining from Leeds last year, and Pep Guardiola recently admitted he can't see a place for him in his City team. There's a good chance he'll leave on loan next month, but a permanent move will likely have to wait until the end of the season.
According to The Sun, Erik ten Hag is a big admirer of Phillips and there are plans afoot to try and lure him across Manchester in the summer. The Dutchman thinks Phillips will suit United's playing style down the ground and there's confidence within the club that they'd be able to nab him fairly cheaply.
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"There’s a feeling that Guardiola wouldn’t stand in Phillips’ way," an insider told The Sun. "Ten Hag wants to be right at the front of the queue [if City decide to sell him].
"He is a fan of the way Phillips plays, and thinks his style is perfectly suited to United and to the philosophy he is trying to instil in the group. Plus, the new investors want the club to focus on investing in and developing English players, and Phillips still remains one of the best English players in the Premier League."
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Phillips will become the first player to move from one Manchester club to another since Owen Hargreaves signed for City after his United contract expired in 2011. Similarly, Carlos Tevez infamously swapped red for blue following a two-year loan spell at Old Trafford by signing for United's newly-minted noisy neighbours in 2009.
The last player to move from one club to the as a result of direct negotiations was Terry Cooke, who joined City from United for £600,000 in 1999. The likes of Peter Schmeichel, Andy Cole and Andrei Kanchelskis played for both sides in the Premier League era, though didn't move directly between clubs.
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Phillips has played just 29 times in 18 months at the Etihad Stadium, and many of those appearances have come from the subs bench. He was singled out by Guardiola in December last year when the Spaniard claimed he returned from the World Cup "overweight", and has struggled for game time ever since.
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