Everton handed fresh Kalvin Phillips transfer update after Pep Guardiola fume.

The England international has struggled at Manchester City and has been linked with a move away from the club.

Pep Guardiola giving instruction to Evertontarget Kalvin Phillips (Image: PA Wire)

Everton’s transfer business has been quiet in the last few weeks as it seemed the club was eagerly awaiting the sale of Amadou Onana to Aston Villa to be sealed before doing more business beyond the arrivals of Tim Iroegbunam, Iliman Ndiaye and the returning Jack Harrison.

Now that the Belgian has officially left for the Villians, Sean Dyche and Kevin Thelwell are acting quickly to get deals done with Jesper Lindstrom on the verge of signing on loan with it reported the Danish attacker has his medical booked. Reaction to Everton’s transfer business has now been made by Pep Guardiola who did not seem confident about his side keeping hold of Dyche’s latest target – Kalvin Phillips.

The Man City boss admitted to press “I don’t know what’s going to happen” when asked about the future of the Englishman. Following his team’s 4-3 loss to Celtic in pre-season, Guardiola was quizzed about Phillips’ status at the club to which the Catalonian was unable to give an assured response with the player seemingly heavily sought after by the Toffees.

The midfielder played the first 45 minutes against the Scottish champions to which Guardiola stated he had “a really good first half”. The Manchester Evening News’ Joe Bray had a different analysis of Phillips’ performance, however, saying: “It’s only the first game of pre-season, but Kalvin Phillips started the game almost forcing Ortega into an OG, then has pushed up so much that Celtic have twice played through the midfield to score identical goals. Pep furious on the touchline with his midfielders”

Guardiola kept his cards close to his chest with his initial response of “We’ll see” to the question of the Yorkshireman’s possible departure. There has seemingly been mutual dissatisfaction between both manager and player on how well Phillips’ £40 million move from Leeds has transpired. The midfielder was brought in from his boyhood club to act as back-up to Rodri but lack of playing time led to a loan move in January to West Ham in an effort for him to return to form.

Unfortunately for Phillips it did almost the exact opposite. The sixth month stint at The Hammers had very little to show for it beside multiple errors and a red card. Sean Dyche will hope to bring in the Kalvin Phillips closer to the one we saw at Leeds that led him to be given the nickname ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’. It shouldn’t be too hard to persuade Manchester City to let go of the Englishman but it will need to be on terms Everton are happy with. A £40 million price tag attached to the player just two summers ago might mean The Toffees will have to settle for a loan deal, though given his recent form that may not be a bad thing.

It is no doubt that the 28-year-old fits the mould of a Sean Dyche player. The tireless, hard-working midfielder could very well fill the hole created through Onana’s departure but in yet another summer where the blues are restrained by their financial position; any deal would have to be the right deal for Everton. So as for now, as Pep Guardiola says, “We’ll see”.