Fabrizio Romano has dismissed recent claims that Liverpool are interested in signing Kalvin Phillips just one year after the England international joined Manchester City.
Writing for CaughtOffside, the Italian transfer guru provided his latest on the Reds’ pursuit for a new midfielder, with the 27-year-old seemingly not a target for Liverpool as the Daily Star recently reported that Jurgen Klopp’s side were interested in Phillips.
However, perhaps to the surprise of nobody, these rumours seem well off the mark, with Romano saying: “Despite links with Kalvin Phillips, I don’t have anything on this one honestly at this stage. We said many times Liverpool want midfielders and will go for many midfielders, but at the moment I’m not aware of anything concrete on Phillips.”
Given that Phillips has spent just a single season at the Etihad Stadium and that City are unlikely to sell to a direct Premier League rival in Liverpool, it is not that much of a revelation that initial reports that the Reds are interested in the former Leeds United man are not to be believed.
Indeed, whilst the midfielder could have been perfect for Liverpool a year ago, there’s simply no chance the Merseyside giants will now get a deal over the line given who Phillips plays for and the huge transfer fee City will rightly demand for the England international.
Liverpool rumours for Kalvin Phillips were always going to be unreliable
Sometimes it takes just reading a transfer rumour out loud for one to realise just how unlikely that certain move is to happen, and that has been the case and then some for Phillips and Liverpool, with the Reds likely to target other midfielders this summer.
As Romano said, the Anfield side will look to bring in numerous players who operate in the position this transfer window, yet given Phillips’ loyalties and how set City must now be on selling star names to rival clubs, a move to Liverpool was always going to be unlikely.