West Ham and Manchester City transfer deal now looks to be “in the balance”

Kalvin Phillips’ potential permanent transfer to loan side West Ham United in the summer now looks to be in the balance due to his lack of form since moving to the London Stadium.

The England international left Manchester City to join West Ham on loan in the January transfer window, and it’s perhaps now a little easier to see why he wasn’t getting much game time under Pep Guardiola.

Although Phillips was a fine player during his time at Leeds United, establishing himself as an England national team regular while he was there, he never really fulfilled his potential at Man City, and it wasn’t surprising to see him go out on loan for more first-team football this winter.

It’s not worked out for Phillips so far, however, and Ben Jacobs has discussed his future with Give Me Sport, suggesting a permanent deal with the Hammers now seems to be hanging in the balance.

Phillips transfer latest: West Ham hanging in the balance, and Leeds return unlikely

Jacobs also responded to claims that Leeds could re-sign Phillips, but it seems the 28-year-old’s wages would be a problem for the Yorkshire outfit.

“I think it’s a neat narrative, but I don’t think that Leeds are looking at Kalvin Phillips at this point. The main reason for that is wages, ultimately,” Jacobs said.

“Phillips needs game time. The chances of a permanent move to West Ham are in the balance for form reasons, to some extent, although he obviously still has plenty of time to settle and win over West Ham. But the main challenge with Philips is the same as it was when the loan was discussed, which is price.

“In the end, no option to buy number was agreed between West Ham and Manchester City and West Ham will need to determine, come summer, whether they think there’s a deal to be done for Philips at value.”