Pep Guardiola issues another apology to former Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips
Pep Guardiola has been asked again about former Leeds United favourite Kalvin Phillips following recent comments from the midfielder.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has again apologised to Kalvin Phillips for telling him he was 'overweight'. Phillips has since joined West Ham United on loan, unlikely to return to the Etihad Stadium, but the midfielder has again spoken about how the comments in 2022 hurt his feelings.
Phillips returned from the World Cup with England over his target weight, leading to Guardiola telling the media that he was 'overweight', though the Spaniard says he told the player how he felt before saying the same thing to reporters.
Phillips struggled for game time behind Rodri at City throughout his spell with the club, despite joining for a fee of around £42million. After joining West Ham, he recalled the incident.
“After the World Cup was probably the toughest, when Pep came out and said I was overweight. He was right to do so but there are different ways to go about it," said the former Leeds man. “Pep was frustrated I didn’t come back into training early but it was just a miscommunication between the people at City and myself.
“Pep wanted me to come in the day after we finished the tournament and be involved in friendlies and stuff. I never got that information because if he asked me to be there, I would have. It was just a misunderstanding, he was very frustrated with me coming back 1.5kg over my target weight. It took a big knock on my confidence and how I felt at City. My family were not happy about it, either. Especially Mum.”
Guardiola has now been asked about the topic again after a fresh interview in which Phillips said he was frustrated and gutted about his lack of playing time at City. And now the City boss has issued another apology, saying: "I'm sorry. I do apologise to him. I'm so sorry." He added: "I did speak about that. I never before said something here [to the media] without speaking to the player."