KALVIN PHILLIPS is set to be sidelined for a fortnight with a hamstring injury.
The West Ham midfielder, who has endured a horror loan spell in East London, suffered the hamstring strain in training on Tuesday.
Phillips did not travel to Germany with the Hammers for their Europa League quarter-final first leg against Bayer Leverkusen and will miss the return meeting in London next week.
The on-loan Manchester City midfielder will also miss Sunday’s London derby against Fulham and is likely to miss the visit to Crystal Palace on April 21.
Phillips has had a horrid time since arriving at West Ham on loan in January.
The former Leeds United man has lost his place in the England squad, gave away a cheap goal on his Hammers debut, was sent off at Nottingham Forest and sparked an almighty collapse at Newcastle.
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West Ham are still unclear as to when Jarrod Bowen will return from his back injury, though there is hope he will be able to feature in the second leg against Bayer Leverkusen next week.
Meanwhile, Phillips’ place in Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 team for this summer is under threat.
The midfielder was snubbed of a place during the Three Lions’ friendlies against Brazil and Belgium after Southgate opted for Manchester United youngster Kobbie Mainoo instead.
This injury setback means the England star’s prospects of returning to the squad are now hanging by a thread.
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Southgate will name his provisional squad for Euro 2024 on 21 May.
Since he arrived in East London, Phillips has failed to make any impact with zero assists and goals in 11 appearances.
Fans are speculating where his future lies at West Ham and according to reports the midfielder has been in contact with Leeds about a potential return to the Championship side.
French outlet Sports Zone revealed Leeds have enquired about re-signing him.
The 28-year-old left Elland Road to join Manchester City in a £45million transfer two years ago.
The Whites recently made contact with Man City regarding a possible transfer.
City are allegedly willing to accept £25million for Phillips.
The midfielder joined Leeds’ academy at the age of 14 and progressed through the club’s youth ranks before signing his first professional contract four years later.
He went on to make 234 appearances for the Whites, scoring 14 goals.
Phillips’ West Ham loan is a disaster… it’s toe-curlingly difficult to watch, says Dave Kidd
By Dave Kidd
HE’S had an extraordinary career, Kalvin Phillips.
A Treble-winner and one of only 12 living Englishmen to have started the final of a major international tournament.
A home-town hero at Leeds, where he was the kingpin of Marcelo Bielsa’s buccaneering Championship-winning side and feted as the ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’.
England’s Player of the Year in 2021, when the Three Lions reached a final for the first time in more than half a century.
Indeed, Phillips has featured in most of England’s best wins of the last three years — against Germany and Denmark at those Euros, home and away in qualifiers against Italy, against a Belgium side ranked No 1 in the world, the World Cup thrashing of Senegal and in last autumn’s hammering of the Scots.
That record for Gareth Southgate’s side points to a great irony.
If Phillips had stayed put as a Manchester City bench-warmer, he would be going to Germany this summer and quite possibly as a starter.
The mighty man-bun man has been a fine footballer and, at 28, he might become one again.
Phillips is also a good bloke too, much-loved in the England squad and attracting a full house from the entire Leeds staff when the club held a leaving do before his Etihad move in a £45million deal.
But right now Phillips has become unwatchable. Toe-curling, cringeworthy, hide-behind-the-sofa-the-Daleks-are-coming levels of unwatchable.
His loan switch to West Ham, which originally looked sensible for club and player, is an unmitigated disaster.
And it feels as if Phillips is at the centre of a football-wide conspiracy which has deemed that anything which could go wrong, will go wrong.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
