Leeds United's Patrick Bamford addresses Kalvin Phillips' struggles and makes future prediction

Leeds United's Patrick Bamford is tipping Kalvin Phillips to bounce back next season and dish out a firm reminder of his talents. It would be something of an understatement to say Phillips' time at West Ham United has not gone to plan.

The Leeds-born midfielder joined the Hammers on loan in January in the hope of picking up much-needed minutes after struggling to catch the eye of Man City boss Pep Guardiola. Unfortunately for Phillips, though, while he has been given opportunities, he has struggled for traction in east London and the mistakes he has made have led to him receiving huge amounts of criticism.

The England international made costly errors in his first two outings for the club before being shown a red card against Nottingham Forest in February. That was before difficult showings against Burnley and Newcastle United, with the Hammers throwing away a two-goal lead following his introduction in the latter.

Phillips has played just 15 minutes of football since that St James' Park clash, with his place in David Moyes' pecking order noticeably slipping. As such, it's clear that West Ham won't be making Phillips' loan permanent in the summer and with a future at Man City hard to see, he is expected to be on the move once more ahead of next season.

He has been linked with a return to Elland Road, should Leeds win promotion, while Fulham are also said to be interested. Wherever Phillips goes, though, Bamford believes he will silence his doubters.

"I think for Kalv, he went to City, training with top players which will bring on your level," Bamford told Joe Wilkinson on his BBC podcast, 'My Mate's A Footballer'. "But there is a big difference to training every day. Playing a few minutes, to playing match after match.

“Unfortunately for Kalv, he’s gone to West Ham where he hasn’t got match sharpness. He’s playing catch up because it is mid-season. Social media is horrible. It’s unfair. He doesn’t go from being a top player, winning England’s Player of the Year, to all of a sudden not being good enough to play for any team in the Prem. Next season, wherever Kalv goes, he’ll get a good pre-season. We’ll see the best of him again.”

Phillips left Leeds in the summer of 2022 for a reported fee of around £45m after spending two seasons with his boyhood club in the Premier League. However, his first few months at City were blighted with injuries and while he did end his first season with Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League winners’ medals, he probably didn’t play as much as he would have liked.

Consequently, after a difficult second season with the club, he made what many people felt was the right decision, to leave the Etihad Stadium in pursuit of game time, especially with a spot in Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad at stake. Unfortunately, after being omitted from England’s squad for March friendlies against Brazil and Belgium, it now seems highly unlikely that Phillips will be on the plane to Germany this summer.