Report: Newcastle ready to pounce for £42m England international in January as move looks likely

Newcastle United are poised to move for unsettled Manchester City star Kalvin Phillips in January with the player likely to leave the champions.

Not for the first time Newcastle have been linked with a move for Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips who looks increasingly likely to seek a move away from the treble winners this winter.

Phillips moved to the Premier League champions in 2022 for £42million from Leeds United and was widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in Europe at the time.

However, Phillips has not been able to disperse Rodri as first-choice pick in Pep Guardiola's midfield and as such has rarely featured for City since his move.

Phillips swept up a plethora of winner's medals last season as City scooped the treble and European Super Cup, but they must feel hollow for Phillips given how little he actually contributed to the wins.

With Pep Guardiola recently opting to play young full-back Rico Lewis in the defensive midfield role in Rodri's absence, it has become clear that the writing is on the wall for Phillips.

Now The Northern Echo has claimed that Eddie Howe is poised to pounce in January at the first sign of Phillips becoming available either on loan or as a permanent deal.

The fact that Phillips still gets selected in every England squad by Gareth Southgate shows that there's still plenty of confidence that the 27-year-old can do a job. I'm personally a big fan of Phillips, but right now I'm not sure where he fits into the Newcastle side.

Potentially he could replace Sean Longstaff and sit back in that midfield three allowing Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali/Joelinton to get forward.

For me, it all comes down to price. England international or not, he's not played anywhere near enough football to justify us paying anything near the £42million he cost City just over a year ago.