Published on 20.02.2024
Man City boss Pep Guardiola has issued an apology to Kalvin Phillips for publicly outing him as being overweight on his return from the World Cup.
The midfielder is still contracted to Manchester City but last month agreed a loan move to West Ham until the end of the season.
Guardiola made the remarks after midfielder Phillips returned from England duty around 1.5kg overweight following the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Phillips admitted recently that his confidence took a huge knock after Guardiola outed him over his weight.
Rival fans have since taken delight in goading Phillips over the weight issue, with Guardiola admitting he was wrong to go public with his comments. “Yeah, I’m sorry, once in eight years is not bad. But I’m so sorry. I apologized to him. I apologize. I’m so sorry.”
Phillips said he did not know Guardiola had planned to go public about him being overweight. But the City boss said the pair had discussed the issue of his weight, before he decided to make it public knowledge.
Phillips gave an interview this month in which he admitted Guardiola’s comments had “a big knock on my confidence” and revealed his family had been particularly unhappy after the subsequent backlash.
“He was right to do so but there are different ways to go about it,” said the 28-year-old.
“It was just a misunderstanding and I think he was very frustrated with me coming back 1.5kg over my weight target.
