Newcastle United have been backed to sign Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips by former Chelsea and Celtic midfielder Craig Burley, who made an appearance on ESPN UK’s YouTube channel.

Burley also stressed the importance of Phillips leaving Manchester City, as he feels his career is stagnating there – he mentioned that ‘he has hardly played’.

Phillips would be a solid addition to Newcastle’s team. However, his best role, that of a deep-lying playmaker, is not something Eddie Howe tends to utilise. Instead, Phillips would likely be used as a box-to-box player.

Phillips signed for Manchester City from Leeds United in the summer of 2022. Since then, he has been a peripheral figure in the squad, making just seven Premier League appearances all season (none of which were starts).

He is by no means a bad player. But, likewise, he is never going to unseat Rodri from the defensive midfield position – the Spaniard is arguably the best holding player in the world right now.

As such, a clean break for Phillips certainly makes sense. Fans of the Premier League will remember him best for his time at Leeds, where he earned the nickname of the ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’.

Moving to Newcastle would make sense, but he would also need to contend with the likes of Bruno Guimaraes, Joe Willock and Joelinton, who are all having brilliant seasons for the Magpies. He is unlikely to want to trade Manchester City’s bench for Newcastle’s – the Toon would probably have to offer him regular first-team football if they opt to snap him up.