Ipswich Town have announced the eye-catching signing of midfielder Kalvin Phillips on a season-long loan from Manchester City.
Capped 31 times by England, Phillips, who will wear the number eight shirt at Town, started in the European Championship Final at Wembley in 2021.
His career stalled after making a £42m move from Leeds to the Etihad though. He has started just two Premier League games for Pep Guardiola's side and had a frustrating loan spell at West Ham in the second half of last season.
Everton and Fulham were both interested in taking Phillips ahead of the new campaign, but it's Ipswich, preparing for their first Premier League campaign in 22 years following back-to-back promotion, who have got the deal done.
DONE DEAL: Town sign Szmodics from Rovers
With a full pre-season under his belt, he could go straight into the squad for Town's much-anticipated opening game against Liverpool, at Portman Road, tomorrow lunchtime (12.30pm).
Gareth Southgate said that England had 'not found a natural replacement' for Phillips during Euro 2024. The midfielder, reunited with his good friend and former Leeds team-mate Leif Davis at Portman Road, will now be looking to rediscover form and fitness under the expert management of Kieran McKenna and with the backing of the Blues fan base.
Phillips becomes Town's eighth summer signing following the additions of Aro Muric (Burnley, £8m), Ben Johnson (West Ham, free), Jacob Greaves (Hull, £15m), Conor Townsend (West Brom, £500k), Omari Hutchinson (Chelsea, £18m), Sammie Szmodics (Blackburn, £9m) and Liam Delap (Man City, £15m).
The Blues are also closing in on the addition of Swedish international midfielder Jens Cajuste on loan from Napoli.
Once the above deal is concluded Ipswich will have reached their 25-man senior squad limit, though further room could be created if any of Cieran Slicker (loan), Ali Al-Hamadi (loan) and Freddie Ladapo depart.
Town have also been in talks with Chelsea about the potential loan signing of striker Armando Broja, though it's understood the Albanian international, linked to AC Milan earlier in the transfer window, is keen to keep his options open for now.
As a Premier League club, the Blues can have a maximum of two domestic loans at any time with further international loans on top.
TOWN SQUAD
GK: Muric, Walton, Slicker
RB: Johnson, Clarke*
CB: Woolfenden, Burgess, Greaves, Tuanzebe, Edmundson
LB: Davis, Townsend
CM: Phillips, Morsy, Luongo, Taylor, Humphreys*
RW: Hutchinson, Burns
AMC: Chaplin, Szmodics
LW: Broadhead*, Harness
ST: Delap, Hirst*, Al-Hamadi, Ladapo
Italics: Don't count towards 25-man limit due to age
* Currently injured/not fit
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