I was feeling very SAD and down…” The 28-year-old reveals that he began to experience feelings of ‘uselessness’ while playing for Manchester City.

After a trying 18 months at the Etihad after leaving Leeds United, Phillips has now signed a season-long loan to play for West Ham United.

Although he didn’t play a significant role in City’s triple crown, the 28-year-old chose to stick around and challenge for a spot in the summer when an even earlier exit looked certain.

However, Phillips’ playing time has not increased, and during Rodri’s suspension, he was not even able to make the squad.

Kalvin Phillips talks about leaving Manchester City.

Phillips has acknowledged that he had to go in order to resume his love of football. He told his new club’s Official Programme before of the Arsenal game this coming weekend, “It’s obviously a massive decision for me and my family, but I think it was a decision that I needed to make because I wasn’t getting much game time.”

“Returning to the pitch and having fun while playing football was my main goal when I left Manchester City in January.” After a prolonged period of time without playing football, you start to feel a little bit worthless because you haven’t been active.

“So, it was simply more about enjoying my football again and going to a good team with nice fans for me.

“I was so upset to realise that moving on was my only option, but I quickly got over it and was just incredibly eager to come down here and take in the bustling sights of London. I couldn’t wait to start underway.

At last, the wise choice

Although it seemed like a courageous choice at the time, it turned out to be in vain. Rather than attempting to shake off the ring rust during the peak of the campaign, Phillips could have departed City in the summer and continued to play.

Nevertheless, he put an end to any discussion of leaving City by declaring his intention to stay and compete for his spot in the squad before the transfer market had a chance to open fully.

Professional football players must believe in themselves, and it must be difficult to leave a team that has recently won the triple crown.

1. Nevertheless, it was already very evident that Pep Guardiola did not think Phillips was good enough, and this was further demonstrated when the manager chose to use everyone else in the holding position rather than Phillips after Rodri was suspended.