It feels like an unfortunate reflection of Kalvin Phillips and his short time at Manchester City that a player who decided he needed to move in January probably won't end up kicking a competitive ball this month.

Despite considerable interest from a range of clubs stretching to before the winter transfer window opened, Phillips flew back from Abu Dhabi on Tuesday with Pep Guardiola and the rest of his City teammates with a deal yet to be agreed. West Ham are increasingly confident that they can find an arrangement, although their next game isn't until February 1.

City have driven a hard price for Phillips because they do not want to give away a respected England international on the cheap, yet it says it all about his bizarre nightmare of a spell at the Etihad that there won't be a need to replace him. Unlike the gasps this time last year when Joao Cancelo was packed off to Bayern on loan, Phillips will be allowed to leave with barely a murmur.

That is principally because he never established a place in the City team. For all the positive reception to his £45m move from Leeds in the summer of 2022, he has barely been trusted to play under Guardiola and when he has it is hard to recall a convincing display.

In contrast, Mateo Kovacic arrived this summer and effortlessly performed the tasks of a Rodri assistant immediately on the pre-season tour. Despite a few blips this season, he is firmly ahead of Phillips in the pecking order.

So too is Rico Lewis, who has been used almost exclusively in midfield this season - including the big Premier League game at Arsenal when Rodri was suspended. That was a week where Phillips had spoken about as a huge opportunity, yet he only ended up starting one of three matches.

Guardiola suggested recently that Phillips could be an option in a chaotic game - an indirectly damning assessment from a manager who craves control in every game - but the Blues now have their own agent of chaos in Matheus Nunes. The former Wolves man looks like he could slot into the City system but at the moment at least appears to be playing slightly outside of it; he needs minutes to adapt.

There are also two young midfielders coming through who have made their debuts recently in Mahamadou Susoho and Jacob Wright. If there is an opportune moment in a cup game or a league game to experiment, either of these two would jump at the chance that Phillips might have otherwise taken if he had stayed.

City may be losing a member of their squad by allowing Phillips to leave, but they already have several different players more than capable of taking the minutes that the England man did get.