Kalvin Phillips linked with Liverpool move

Liverpool, do they need numbers in midfield as well? I mean, you'd say no. You'd say they've got a lot of players, but then they missed out on Lavia, so they're obviously looking out for players in that position. They've signed Soboslai, they've signed McAllister, who's going to be serving a suspension if he doesn't win the appeal, which I don't think he will, unfortunately. You've got Thiago, you've got Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, you've got young players. Bajecic, we spoke about him last week. So, they've got a lot of midfielders. Endo has joined as well. Yes, Endo has joined as well. So, they're linked with Calvin Phillips, we've seen that today. So, they're clearly looking for more bodies in that centre midfield. Do I think they need it? No. I just listed the players that they've got, and they've got a lot of youth players that can learn from those experienced players as well and be ones for the near future. What about that Calvin Phillips link? Would that be a good thing for Liverpool? I think so. He had his issues injury-wise the last couple of seasons, particularly last season, but you look at the player he has been, particularly in the Euros for England and when he was at Leeds, he's a fabulous midfielder. I think if he can stay fit and you can get the Calvin Phillips that can play every match, then yeah, of course he'd be a great fit into that defensive kind of midfield for Liverpool. Mark, do you see City letting him go? Because he hasn't really had a chance to show what he can do yet. Well, it's interesting, it just reminded me of the interview that he did with Tim Thornton and Sky Sports News earlier on in the summer where I spoke about that first year at Manchester City and he spoke to Jack Grealish and Jack Grealish said to him, look, my first year I found really tough. Let's do, Rodri's suffered his first year, struggled. It always takes some time to adjust to Pep Guardiola. The training, the intensity, what he wants you to do when you've got the ball, what he wants you to do off the ball and he kind of said, I don't want to give up on this Manchester City project after just one season. When you've got other clubs that were interested in him and expressing an interest in Manchester City, what's the situation with Calvin Phillips? I think it's quite easy to turn them down. I won't name the clubs because that would be unfair. However, Liverpool's not any other club. They are an institution in the world of football. And if they were to then make that approach more formal, I think that would be a real test for Manchester City and it would be a test for Calvin Phillips because whilst you can turn down clubs that might finish mid-table or lower mid-table in the Premier League, very difficult to turn down Liverpool unless you're Caicedo or Lavia. I do agree with that. I think Liverpool are one of the only clubs that could turn Calvin Phillips head for that very reason. Pride comes into play as a player as well, particularly as it's not really been his fault in terms of the injuries and not having a run of games. So he may think he doesn't want anyone to think he's given up. Financially stable, of course, you're at Manchester City. So he potentially is thinking, no, Gundogan's left. I want an opportunity to try and break into this Man City side. But then if you have a club like Liverpool that potentially is going to be challenging for the title as well, that could be one of the only clubs to turn his head. But would City sell to a potential title rival? We've seen that already, haven't we? Last season with Jesus and Tchenko going to Arsenal. Not sure they thought Arsenal were a title rival at the time. In terms of rivals, no, I don't think they were their immediate rivals. But they were still on their way. One of the top clubs in the country. And they still let two of their fringe players that were still fantastic go. And, you know, it has made them a lot better. Pep Guardiola would have known that would have made Arsenal better. So will that come into play? I don't think. I think Pep just wants a challenge. One of the problems as well is Liverpool have almost shown their hand. I know they've signed Endo. However, they had a deal agreed for 111 million for Moises Caicedo with Brighton and a 60 million deal agreed with Southampton for Lavia. So have they gave an indication to Manchester City? Actually, we've got a little bit of money to spend on this position. You saw Alexis McAllister play much deeper as the pivot at the weekend, which is not his best position. So it's clear they need someone. So it'd be interesting to see how this one works out.