Kalvin Phillips

Kalvin Mark Phillips (born 2 December 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club West Ham United, on loan from Manchester City, and the England national team.

Kalvin Mark Phillips was born on 2 December 1995 in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

He attended the Farnley Academy during his secondary school years.

Phillips was one of four children and was raised in poverty while his mother worked two jobs and his father was in prison.

Phillips played for local club Wortley from 2003 to 2010 before joining Leeds United's academy aged 14.

He progressed through the club's youth ranks and signed his first professional deal with the club in the summer of 2014, retaining him for the 2014–15 season.

During the 2014–15 season, Phillips became the captain of the development and under-18 teams.

Along with Sam Byram, Charlie Taylor, Alex Mowatt and Lewis Cook, Phillips was the latest graduate of a promising group of academy players to regularly feature under former youth manager Neil Redfearn in the 2014–15 season.

On 11 April, he retained his position in the Leeds starting 11, making his home debut against Cardiff City at Elland Road, and marked the match with his first senior goal in only his second appearance, although the match finished in a 2–1 defeat.

At the end of the season, he signed a new two-year contract.

A Leeds United academy graduate, Phillips made his first-team debut in 2015.

Phillips joined the first team for the trip to Sunderland in the FA Cup third round on 4 January 2015; he was unused substitute in a 1–0 defeat.

On 30 March, academy coach Jason Blunt said he felt Phillips would become a future fans favourite.

Phillips made further appearances on the bench in league matches over the following months, and made his professional debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers in 4–3 defeat on 6 April.

On 31 July 2015, Phillips was given the number 27 shirt for the upcoming 2015–16 season.

However, with Redfearn replaced as head coach during the summer, Phillips made just 10 league appearances over the course of the season under head coaches Uwe Rösler and then Steve Evans.

In June 2016, only days after the appointment of new head coach Garry Monk, Phillips was offered a new three-year contract at Leeds.

On 27 August 2016, Phillips scored his first goal of the 2016–17 season, with a long-range free kick against Nottingham Forest in a 3–1 defeat.

After an injury to captain Liam Bridcutt in September 2016, Phillips, alongside Eunan O'Kane or Ronaldo Vieira, established himself as an important player in Leeds' central midfield.

Phillips' impressive form for Leeds saw him win the Championship Young Player of the Month Award for October 2016.

On 9 December 2016, Phillips was given his first professional red card after giving away a penalty in a 2–0 defeat against then league leaders Brighton & Hove Albion by turning away a goal-bound shot with his arm, the penalty was converted by Glenn Murray.

On 6 August 2017, the opening day of the 2017–18 Championship season, Phillips scored a brace to ensure Leeds beat Bolton Wanderers 3–2.

On 9 September he scored his third goal of the season in the match against Burton Albion.

His fifth of the season came on 27 October in a 2–1 defeat in the Yorkshire derby against Sheffield United.

He started the season partnering O'Kane in the centre of Leeds' midfield, although after a good start to the season, Leeds suffered a lack of form prior to the dismissal of head coach Thomas Christiansen in February 2018.

Phillips and O'Kane found themselves in and out the team with Vieira given more opportunities and the arrival of Adam Forshaw in January 2018.

Phillips ended the season with seven goals and three assists, which represented the best scoring season of his career so far.

On 19 July 2018, Phillips revealed he had been training as a centre back and a deep-lying playmaker ahead of the 2018–19 season, as part of new head coach Marcelo Bielsa's tactics.

As the season started, he was deployed as the holding midfielder in a 4–1–4–1 formation.

Phillips was utilised as a deep-lying defensive midfielder for Leeds under Bielsa, playing as a centre back if the team lined up in a three-man defence.

In October 2018, his impressive form in his new positions under Bielsa's management saw Phillips briefly linked with a possible call up to Gareth Southgate's England national team.

After a knee injury to captain Liam Cooper on 1 December 2018 in a 1–0 win against Sheffield United, Phillips deputised several matches playing as an outright centre back until Cooper's return in mid January.

During the 2018–19 season, Phillips made 46 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal, after Leeds finished the regular season in third place.

Leeds qualified for the play-offs, and Phillips started the fixtures against sixth-placed Derby County.

In the 2019–20 season, he was a member of the Leeds team coached by Marcelo Bielsa that won the Championship.

Phillips signed for Manchester City in 2022 and won a continental treble of the 2022–23 Premier League, the 2022–23 FA Cup, and the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League in his first season with the club.

On 23 June, Phillips signed the new three-year contract extension to stay at the club until the summer of 2019.

After returning to his defensive midfielder position, he scored his first goal of the season in Leeds' 1–1 draw against Middlesbrough on 9 February 2019, netting the equaliser in the 11th minute of injury time.

In March 2019, he was selected to the 2018–19 Championship EFL Team of the Season and on 4 May 2019, Phillips was named the Yorkshire Evening Post Player of the Year for the 2018–19 season.

Phillips made his international debut for the England national team in 2020, and was part of the England team that finished as runners-up at UEFA Euro 2020, and played at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.