Sean Dyche believes Everton factor can land Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City
Sean Dyche believes Everton can attract Kalvin Phillips this summer due to the club’s proximity to his Leeds home, according to The Mirror.
The paper reported via their website on 28 May that the Toffees are hoping to provide the Manchester City “outcast” an opportunity to “relaunch his career” as he is not wanted by Pep Guardiola.
Phillips spent the second half of the season on loan at West Ham but the move went “disastrously wrong” to leave him at a crossroads this summer.
Dyche feels he can help the 28-year-old rediscover the form that earned him his City move while at Leeds United, and with finances tight at Goodison Park amid ongoing uncertainty over the ownership situation a loan move could now be on the cards.
Everton revival for Kalvin Phillips after West Ham nightmare?
In isolation the fact that Everton aren’t too far from Phillips’ house seems a flimsy selling point but after a miserable half-season in London the ex-England regular may welcome remaining closer to home.
That element hasn’t worked out especially favourably for him at the Premier League champions where he has been entirely unable to dislodge Rodri at the base of Guardiola’s midfield.
But with Amadou Onana expected to leave this summer and veteran Idrissa Gana Gueye turning 35 early next season there is a different picture at Goodison.
All the same, the veteran Senegal international came into his own as relegation was avoided with room to spare in recent weeks and James Garner is another capable operator.
So it is hardly a forgone conclusion that Phillips would waltz into Dyche’s starting line-up and not look back, especially in the context of how he struggled to repay the faith David Moyes showed in him at the London Stadium in January.
On paper a loan move for an in-form Phillips would be something of a coup for an Everton side which is once more unlikely to have anything much in the way of a transfer budget.
But it is difficult to argue he has anywhere near his best for a long time now so pursuing this sort of move would still come with a significant risk.
In other Everton news, the Toffees want to sign an international defender whose transfer is now “very likely”.
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