Man City flop was ‘one of the best players in the PL’, now he’s the new Phillips

Since Pep Guardiola was appointed manager of Manchester City in 2016, the club has spent around £1.276 billion on more than 50 new signings.

Some have, of course, enjoyed huge success, including Erling Braut Håland, who arrived from Borussia Dortmund for £51 million in the summer of 2022, scoring 143 goals in 164 appearances for the Sky Blues so far, which is not bad.

However, others have failed to live up to the expectations set upon their arrival, disappearing into the proverbial wilderness without a trace.

So, is one of Man City’s summer signings, not so long ago considered one of the best players in the Premier League, in danger of becoming the last man to follow that path?

Kalvin Phillips’ career at Manchester City

When Kalvin Phillips joined Manchester City from Leeds United for £42 million in the summer of 2022, he was a first-choice starter for England and widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League.

However, to date he has made just 32 appearances for the Sky Blues, for a total of a measly 921, accumulating just six starts, while 12 of his outings lasted ten minutes or less.

After unsuccessful loan spells at West Ham and then Ipswich, Phillips is now back at Manchester City, featuring in the Carabao Cup in September, charged with a seven-minute appearance towards the end of the win over Huddersfield Town.

It was his first appearance for the Citizens in 645 days, his last before that against Urawa Red Diamonds in Jeddah in the semi-final of the 2023 Club World Cup.

Having not represented England for over two years, it is fair to say the move destroyed Phillips’ career, going from international star to total obscurity, without even appearing on the bench for Man City in the Premier League or Champions League this season – including in Saturday’s 3-2 win over his former club.

So which of Guardiola’s summer signings is likely to repeat this trajectory?

Manchester City’s next Kalvin Phillips

For most of Guardiola’s tenure at the Etihad, the left-back spot was up for grabs.

Firstly, Fabian Delph and Oleksandr Zinchenko were deployed as midfielders in this role while, more recently, a rotating group of central defenders have occupied the position, including Joško Gvardiol and Nathan Aké.

So when Rayan Aït-Nouri arrived from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fee of £31.8 million in June, supporters were delighted as the left-back conundrum appeared to have been solved.

The Algeria international joined Wolves d’Angers in 2020, making 157 appearances for the club and becoming one of their standout players.

In the Premier League last season, the 24-year-old recorded seven assists, a tally bettered only by 16 players and just one defender, namely Antonee Robinson.

Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley described him last season as “one of the best players in the Premier League”, while Manchester City director of football Hugo Viana praised his “quality” upon his arrival.

Having left France, Aït-Nouri will be looking forward to representing Algeria at both next month’s Africa Cup of Nations, with the Desert Foxes among the favorites to triumph in Morocco, as well as this summer’s World Cup, but he may not go into those competitions with all guns blazing.

Despite receiving rave reviews for his performances in old gold, the full-back has made very little impact in sky blue so far, as the table below shows.

As the table shows, Aït-Nouri is yet to make his mark since joining Manchester City.

Since starting two of three Premier League matches in August, he has only played one minute of action in the competition, partly due to an ankle injury.

He made his full Champions League debut against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday, but was hooked at half-time when Guardiola made a triple substitution, with his side trailing a goal down, eventually beaten 2-0 by the Bundesliga side.

Aït-Nouri’s performance in that one did not receive rave reviews.

Richard Martin of Goal noted that he lacked “defensive awareness or creativity going forward”, rating him 4/10, while Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News believed he was responsible for the Werkself’s first goal, criticizing his “heavy touches and poor passing”.

The Algerian was replaced by Nico O’Reilly at the break, and the 20-year-old’s form is also causing him problems.

The youngster has been outstanding this season, starting both of England’s World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania earlier this month, and will not be an easy man to replace at left-back, for either club or country.

So, unlikely to benefit from regular starting opportunities anytime soon, Aït-Nouri risks slipping into the Phillips vortex of being forgotten and cast aside by Guardiola.

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