🚨 Newcastle transfer "an option" for Kalvin Phillips, and another Man City player to watch
Fabrizio Romano has some key Man City updates...
Newcastle United are an option for Kalvin Phillips as he looks set to leave Manchester City this January, according to Fabrizio Romano via his Daily Briefing column this morning.
The England international is not seeing much playing time at the Etihad Stadium, so it could be that he’ll now take the chance to leave the club, and Romano has named Newcastle and Juventus as two potential suitors for him this winter.
However, nothing has been decided yet, as there is one issue at Newcastle’s end, with the club needing to see how they progress in the Champions League before making a final decision on January transfer targets.
“Speaking to sources in the last two or three days, Kalvin Phillips’ future is still not decided, because they want to take their time. It’s a similar situation to Jadon Sancho, because clubs have to wait a bit longer before being certain of their plans,” Romano said.
“Newcastle, for example, will be in the market for a midfielder to replace the suspended Sandro Tonali, and Phillips is a player they appreciate, but before deciding how much they have to spend this January, it will be crucial for them to understand if they will still be in the Champions League, or the Europa League, or out of Europe. They’re in a very close group so let’s see what will happen there.
“Phillips will likely have multiple options - Newcastle is one of them, but there will also be other opportunities. Juventus want a midfielder and are aware of Phillips’ situation, but they have not started concrete talks yet - they have not contacted Phillips’ agent, they are just aware of the situation.”
Romano also added that Saudi interest in City star Kevin De Bruyne could be another story to keep an eye on, but probably next summer rather than this January, after a failed approach for the Belgian midfield maestro before the Champions League final.
He added: “Another Man City player to watch, although not yet, is Kevin De Bruyne. From what I’ve been hearing, Saudi officials approached De Bruyne before the Champions League final to try to discuss if there was a chance to make a summer move, but in that case it was a ‘no’ from De Bruyne and from City because they wanted to continue together.
“I think it’s still too early to know for sure, it will probably be one for summer 2024. Still, the interest has always been there and we know how they work in Saudi - if they appreciate a player, they like to return and insist, so I think they could do the same here, so let’s see if they come back in for De Bruyne in the summer.”
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