'Over the last 18 months' — Kalvin Phillips makes honest assessment of himself since leaving Leeds United

Kalvin Phillips has opened up on his difficult start to life at Manchester City since his transfer from Elland Road in 2022. The former Leeds United star made the dream switch to the Premier League champions but he has seriously struggled to establish himself under Pep Guardiola.

With Euro 2024 coming up, Phillips is seeing out the remainder of the season with West Ham in order to boost his playing time and hopefully his chances of making the England squad.

The 28-year-old spoke to multiple media outlets this week and weighed in on his time with City so far. He revealed his 'toughest moment' was when Guardiola told him he was 'overweight' after the World Cup, which did not sit well with his family.

Phillips also shone some light on how he has felt overall since he moved away from Leeds, and he admitted he feels he has 'lost the fire' in himself since his £45 million transfer. The homegrown talent bid farewell to the Whites after 12 years in the club's set-up, which saw him graduate from academy prospect to key first team player.

"To be honest, I probably lost that fire within me over the past 18 months," Phillips said. "Don’t get me wrong, I still go into games and want to smash people as much as I can, get stuck in and run about. But when you’ve not demonstrated that in a game for so long you kind of forget what it feels like. It was only against Bournemouth and United that I felt it again.

"It wasn’t a nightmare at City, it was just stressful. We won the treble. But when you’re sat on the bench, you don’t feel like it’s your medal to take, although they can’t take them away from me so I’m happy about that!

"Over the last 18 months, I still loved the game, it just changed my way of thinking a little bit. The game wasn’t letting me down but the fact I had nothing to look forward to kind of pushed me away. Now I’m here at West Ham and playing, I feel a lot more alive. It’s not starting from scratch, it’s starting afresh."

Phillips penned a short-term deal with the Irons on January 26th and has featured in all three of their games since then, starting on his debut against Bournemouth. His contract with Man City does not run out until 2028 but he has already admitted he may need to make a decision on his future soon.