Since signing for City for £42million from his boyhood club Leeds in the summer of 2022, it has not all been plain sailing for the Yorkshireman, with his manager Pep Guardiola criticising him immediately for returning after the Qatar World Cup “overweight”.

Since then, 28-year-old Phillips has only made 31 appearances for City in all competitions, scoring one goal and registering no assists. This is a far cry from his Leeds career, where he was a mainstay of their central midfield in both the Championship and Premier League.

By last October, Phillips was suggesting he might need to move on to preserve his spot in the England squad for this summer’s European Championship, commenting: “To keep my spot, I have to be playing games.

“I want to play football and want to play as much as possible. Hopefully my chance does come but if it doesn’t, then I will have to make other decisions as well.”

Unfortunately for Phillips, his chance hasn’t come. In December, Guardiola told the media: "I don’t know what will happen to Kalvin Phillips. He has good character, I’m so sorry I have not picked him. I visualise my team...and I struggle to see him."

It was reported that City are looking to sell Philips in the January 2024 transfer window, but a loan has not been ruled out. Phillips won’t come cheap, though - City are said to want a loan fee of at least £5million, as well as the club paying most of Phillips’ £135,000-a-week wage.

Despite this, a good selection of clubs in the Premier League and beyond are looking to sign Phillips.

Here, Vodacom Soccer assesses the most likely candidates to secure his signature, ranked from least to most likely.

5. Juventus

The Italian giants have reportedly spoken to City about a loan deal for Phillips. The two-times Champions League winners need more depth in midfield as they look to cement their current second-place spot in Serie A. However, their interest has reportedly cooled in favour of Udinese midfielder Lazar Samardzic.

Juventus are a European giant boasting past midfield legends such as Zinedine Zidane and Andrea Pirlo. Phillips was called the Yorkshire Pirlo by Leeds fans during his time at the club – but a move to Italian football looks unlikely for now.

4. Everton

Everton manager Sean Dyche would surely love to add Phillips to his ranks for the rest of a season that still looks very uncertain for the Merseysiders, despite their decent form.

Dyche, of course, is renowned for his no-nonsense approach to football, with his Everton side attempting 64 long balls per game in the Premier League this season.

Phillips was very well known for his amazing long passing ability during his time at Leeds, often being likened to an NFL quarterback. On top of this, Phillips would fit Dyche’s hard-working style of football well – and looking at their current midfield, he would have a good chance of being their number one in the deeper position.

Unfortunately, Everton are facing massive financial issues. Already docked 10 points for breaking Financial Fair Play rules, they now look likely to be punished again by the FA (along with Nottingham Forest) for more broken rules.

This being considered, it is highly unlikely Everton could pull together the funding for Phillips even with sales of other players.

3. West Ham

With West Ham through to the last 16 of the Europa League and sitting sixth in the Premier League, it’s likely to be a very congested few months for the Hammers – so the addition of Phillips could be just what they need to deliver an even better season than the last one.

Likewise, the chance to play on a major European stage will be a massive attraction for Phillips as he seeks to cement his place in the England squad for the Euros this summer. And with West Ham having sold their midfield star, Declan Rice, to Arsenal last summer, Phillips might have thought this would be a great opportunity to slot straight into the West Ham midfield.

Except that the Hammers already have a midfield three playing very well. James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez and Tomas Soucek have created a well-balanced midfield that has been the core of West Ham’s defensive, counter-attacking style of football.

This may make it difficult for Phillips to fit in – and currently West Ham seem to be more interested in boosting their attacking line-up with one of Ajax winger Steven Bergwijn or Sunderland winger-striker Jack Clarke.

2. Crystal Palace

Chairman Steve Parish was quoted in December saying that Palace are aiming to “sign loan players and experienced players” this January transfer window.

Phillips certainly fits both these criteria and with Palace being weak in central midfield, he looks the perfect target. Some reports suggest they are now favourites to sign the out-of-favour City midfielder.

Phillips just has to look at previous players who have left the top-six clubs for Selhurst Park to show how well a move to Palace could suit him. Marc Guehi left Chelsea to play regular first-team football and is now a regular in the England squad. Similarly, Conor Gallagher's loan season at Palace (also from Chelsea) was his breakout season.

Against this, Phillips may see this move as a step down in level compared with the other clubs knocking on the door.

Palace have finished between 11th and 14th in their last five seasons in the Premier League, and don’t have the same European credentials as Newcastle or West Ham.

1. Newcastle

Since their controversial financial takeover in October 2021, Newcastle have been transformed by manager Eddie Howe and some sensible buys into serious challengers for a Champions League place, reaching it for the first time since 2002/03 this season.

Even though they’re out of Europe now, Newcastle’s improvement will be a massive draw for Phillips, now that he’s used to being part of a team at the top of European football.

In addition, Newcastle have massive squad issues at the moment, including Sandro Tonali (betting ban), Joelinton (thigh injury), Joe Willock (calf), Elliot Anderson (back) and Jacob Murphy (shoulder).

Their misfortune should allow Phillips to instantly slot into the Magpies team alongside Bruno Guimaraes. And despite Howe saying that Newcastle’s activity in this transfer window is being held back by Financial Fair Play rules, of all the teams discussed here, they still seem the most likely to be able to afford Phillips’ large contract.

The one con may be that once the players return from injury, he will not be guaranteed first-team football.

However, this should not deter Phillips - as a professional, he should back himself to be good enough to cement himself in the first-team squad.

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Who will win the battle for Man City midfielder Kalvin Phillips’ signature?