'I should have seen that' - Pep Guardiola explains Man City plan for Kalvin Phillips

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about plans for Kalvin Phillips after his new role on the summer tour

Kalvin Phillips could start for Manchester City at Wembley but his future as a midfielder at the club appears to be over.

City paid £45m to bring Phillips to the Etihad in 2022 with the expectation he would help take the burden from Rodri in midfield, but a disastrous two years have seen him lose his place in the England squad and loaned to West Ham. Back in Manchester for pre-season, Phillips travelled with the squad to the Untied States in pre-season and played at centre-back in friendlies with Barcelona and Chelsea.

Guardiola was impressed with what he saw from Phillips in defence and has seen a surge in confidence from the player on the back of those performances. With Ruben Dias, Manu Akanji and Nathan Ake only returning to training this week and John Stones still absent, Phillips could reprise his role against United on Saturday.

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However, his chances of playing again for City in midfield appear remote. With Everton among the clubs interested in Phillips, Saturday could be another chance for the former international to remind teams of what he is capable of.

"He is a central midfielder but I said many times Kalvin likes to see all the game in front of him," said Guardiola. "When he is in the middle surrounded by players he struggles a little bit but he helped us a lot in the last couple of games on tour. I should have seen that before. His confidence is back."