Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips is reportedly set to join Sheffield United on loan.
Phillips spent the second half of the 2025/26 season with the Blades but made just three appearances.
His final display last term ended with a 49th-minute red card against bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
Despite the lack of game time, the Daily Mail reports Blades boss Chris Wilder is keen to bring Phillips back.
Phil your boots
The 30-year-old is available for a move away from City having been left out of their pre-season tour to Asia.
Enzo Maresca’s side will take on Inter Milan on August 1 in Hong Kong before travelling to Seoul, where they face the K League All-Stars on August 5.
City wrap up their pre-season tour four days later against Atletico Madrid.
The tour represents Maresca’s first chance to properly assess and test his squad ahead of the upcoming Premier League season.
But the Italian has already decided Phillips does not have a future with the team.
The latest snub continues Phillips’ torrid time at City since he joined from Leeds for an estimated £42million in July 2022.
He penned a six-year contract, so still has two years left to run on his reported £150,000-a-week deal.
Since his arrival, the 30-year-old has made just 32 appearances for the club.
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Manchester City’s travelling squad to Asia
Tijjani Reijnders, Mateo Kovacic, Marcus Bettinelli, Nico, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Vitor Reis, Josko Gvardiol, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Savinho, Claudio Echeverri, Jeremy Monga, Antoine Semenyo, Abdukodir Khusanov, Phil Foden, Ryan McAidoo, Kaden Braithwaite, Divine Mukasa, Divin Mubama, Max Alleyne, Mahamadou Sangare, Floyd Samba, Jaden Heskey, Rico Lewis, Jack Wint, Matty Henderson-Hall, Stephen Mfuni, Max Chabot, Xavier Parker
Only six of those have been starting berths.
The lack of game time at City led Phillips to spending time on loan at West Ham United and Ipswich Town.
However, neither spell proved overly fruitful.
Wilder: Phillips still has plenty to offer
But with two years left to run on his City deal, Phillips will hope a potential return to Bramall Lane can get his career back on track.
Wilder has previously expressed his support for bringing Phillips back to the Blades, believing the midfielder ticks plenty of key boxes both on and off the field.
“He’ll have a lot of people still after him,” Wilder told BBC Radio Sheffield.
“We’ve brought a really good pro in. He was unlucky with his injury and he’s not played as much as he wanted to play.
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“I spoke to him and said we’d love to be an option for you, your agent and your parent club if that is a possibility.
“He certainly ticks the box in terms of personality and characteristics, off the pitch and on it. If there’s an opportunity I’m sure we’ll try and explore that one.”
