Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has apologised to Kalvin Phillips for saying the England midfielder was “overweight” when he returned from the 2022 World Cup. Guardiola made the remark in a press convention in December 2022 after leaving out Phillips for a League Cup tie towards Liverpool. Phillips, who left City to hitch West Ham on mortgage in January this yr, took Guardiola’s remark to coronary heart following the event in Qatar. “After the World Cup was probably the toughest, when Pep came out and said I was overweight. I did not disagree with him but obviously I took a big knock on my confidence and how I felt at City,” he stated not too long ago.

Asked on Monday if he regretted going public about Phillips’ weight, Guardiola stated: “Yeah, I’m sorry.

“Once in eight years is just not dangerous. But I’m so sorry. I apologise to him. I do apologise. I’m sorry.”

Guardiola claimed he had spoken to Phillips before making the public comment about his weight, saying: “I by no means, by no means earlier than I stated one thing right here didn’t converse with the gamers in that case.”

Phillips has endured a miserable time at City since signing from Leeds in 2022 at a time when he was regarded as one of England’s emerging stars.

The 28-year-old struggled to break into Guardiola’s side, making only two Premier League starts, and is also enduring a difficult loan spell at West Ham.

He handed Bournemouth a goal with his first touch for the club and was sent off for two bookable offences within three minutes in a defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Guardiola was talking ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League home clash with Brentford, who title-chasing City beat 3-1 on February 5.

City are four points behind leaders Liverpool and Brentford’s visit to Manchester represents their game in hand.

The last meeting with Brentford saw City defender Kyle Walker reply angrily to one thing Neal Maupay, the forward on loan with the Bees from Everton, had said to him in the closing stages.

Walker has suffered issues in his private life of late but Guardiola refused to be drawn on the reason for the clash, saying: “I do not need it however typically there’s feelings and it occurs, and you understand that. 

“But this is forgotten. It happened, I think they talked and that’s all.”

Asked how he handled gamers verbally winding him up throughout his days on the pitch, Guardiola added: “It depended on my mood!

“Listen, in my interval in Barcelona I’m within the historical past for having the report of essentially the most yellow playing cards conceded. All the time it was for discuss, discuss, discuss.

“So it depends, sometimes I controlled myself, sometimes being crazy. People say ‘ah, he cannot control’. As a football player I was the same.”

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