So we agree to disagree. It makes sense to me. I hope we get a deal done and Phillips is part of the package, which I think will be a win, win situation. I personally do not see Phillips as a City player (and not under Pep).Fair enough but it makes zero sense. Would suggest the exact opposite as a strategy makes more sense, let Arsenal think we won’t go that high and get the deal done before they can up their offer. Bottom line I think both clubs know what West Ham want and they can sit back and wait if Rice is happy to go to either until one club walks away. Personally think it’s more likely we walk unless we include Phillips as we have done before and a) would need to convince Phillips and b) tend to move on quickly if deal overpriced
No reason to doubt he was being entirely genuine when he made those public comments and also to your own source.If things have developed then completely fair enough mate- i appreciate these situations can change. He just seemed convinced he’d be staying next season.
No doubt!Seriously? TH has a good track record going back years on here.
Battle of the ITK’s? I don’t think so. There are lots of opinions on here and, by the law of averages, some will be correct, but that’s not a reliable source it’s someone who has a mate that is something to do with City who thinks he knows something…. at best. Id hope the bar is a bit higher than that. If it isn’t then there are hundreds on here.
TH saw Haaland’s insurance documents with City. That’s as good as it gets on BM.
Top post mate, and why I mentioned Odegarrd before City need to find an elite midfielder to keep our control of being the elite team about. YAYA, silva, Fernandinho, gundogan, possibly bernado and next will be KDB. The likes of Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice are very good players, however are not in the same bracket as the others mentioned.TBH Philip's positive attitude suggests to me someone who will know when it's time to listen. If Gareth even hints at him needing playing time, and City level that it's not on the agenda, staying would be negative.
Now, there's surely something cooking in our midfield, post Gundo. We can't just keep ferrying players in from other positions. Last year a tonne of people backed Grealish to move infield. Never happened. Now everyone reckons it's Foden's destiny. Disagree. Foden is perhaps the best RW we could get. We've never seen him play in earnest alongside KDB. And it would still leave us short in numbers. We've ended up covering those positions with other players - it started with Bernie, and it just kept going. Stones being the latest.
When does the penny drop? Gundo has left partly because he is shagged from being there all the time. KDB was forced to play for months despite being very, very shagged. Bernie is still unsettled. We. Need. Midfielders. Kovacic will never be enough.
That Philips was behind everyone else really says a lot. Decent player but never one for Pep. He wants far too much space before he shows that passing range. Pep requires players to get in and out of tight spaces, like all our other midfielders. Even Stones.
Having said the need is great - I don't think Rice is the one. Pep will want a better ball player. We'll dig another one out - Wirtz, Szoboslai, many other possibilities.
Aston Villa linked awhile ago.I'm going to take a guess that one of those offers is Bayern? He was linked a couple days ago
Where were you?Monday 12th- Manchester.
Unless it was in the morning I don't think Phillips would have a clue what planet he was on after celebrating forefront his pivitol role in the treble