Liverpool defender Nat Phillips is looking ‘increasingly likely’ to be made to stay put at Anfield for the rest of the season.
As per The Athletic, Phillips had been ‘hopeful’ of securing a move in the January transfer window. But after injury to Virgil van Dijk, the 25-year-old is now said to be needed as fourth choice centre-back.
Phillips was reportedly keen on either a loan or a permanent transfer away from Liverpool. However, it’s claimed that he’s ‘expected’ to stay until the end of the campaign instead.
This isn’t the first time that the defender has been denied a change of clubs while at Liverpool. The Athletic report that the Reds blocked a move for Phillips last summer, after injuries to Joel Matip and Ibrahima Konate left them short in defence.
The former Bolton man reportedly handled this decision with ‘great professionalism.’ As a result, Jurgen Klopp is claimed to be expecting a similar response from Phillips this time around.
There’s no concrete suggestions over what the No.47’s situation will be come the summertime. But the inference is that he’ll be allowed to leave once the season end and Van Dijk is, hopefully, back fit.
Phillips continues will-he won’t-he saga
Whatever way you look at it, Phillips has had a strange Liverpool career. Had it not been for the Reds well-documented injury crisis of 2020/21, he may have left Anfield years ago. Instead, he propelled himself into the spotlight with some pretty remarkable displays that season.
For obvious reasons, that was a brilliant thing for Phillips. It signalled that he did indeed have the quality to be a Premier League player. This was something of a surprise at the time, but not to everyone.
Having spent the previous season in the Bundesliga 2 with Stuttgart, he had shown himself to be a decent prospect. Former Stuttgart sporting director Sven Mislintat even called him ‘superb’ via The Athletic.
But still, there was no real expectation that he’d have a career at Liverpool. That 2020/21 season changed things in that respect.
Ironically though, it has also held him back. Had he been free to leave Liverpool before then, he would likely have settled in as a first team starter somewhere by now. Instead, he’s nearing twenty-six and has played just 69 senior games.
You can’t blame him for wanting to leave, but he always appears to accept whatever decision is made. It’s likely that he’ll only play a handful of times between now and the end of the season. When he does eventually get his move though, he deserves a good send off.
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