According to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, Kalvin Phillips will miss the League Cup match as he is about to welcome the birth of his second child in London.
The former England midfielder has not played for Guardiola's team since December 2023. During this period, he was loaned to West Ham United and Ipswich Town successively. However, his loan spells were not smooth: he only made 10 appearances at West Ham, and although he got more playing time at Ipswich, he only played 19 games and was eventually relegated with the team.
This summer, Phillips underwent Achilles tendon surgery, and no club made an official offer due to his recovery status before the transfer deadline. Guardiola originally planned to rotate the squad in this Wednesday's League Cup match against Huddersfield Town to give Phillips a long-awaited chance to play. But the manager confirmed that the player will miss the match due to family matters: “He is in London today because he is going to be a father for the second time. He has returned to the team to start training, and we will see the situation next. He just had surgery and needs more training, and then he may get some playing time in certain matches.”
Phillips' first child was born on Christmas 2023, with his childhood sweetheart Ashley as the mother. Becoming a father again this time means that he is once again facing the challenge of balancing family and career at a critical moment when he is trying to restart his professional career.
