Kalvin Phillips Given Strange New Man City Number: Only Worn By 5 players Before

Kalvin Phillips Given Strange New Man City Number: Only Worn By 5 players Before

English midfielder Kalvin Phillips has been given a new number at Manchester City, which has only ever been worn by five players before. The 29-year-old previously wore number four at Manchester City, but summer signing Tijjani Reijnders has since taken that shirt.

It says something about how Philips’s time at the Etihad has gone that he was signed as a £45m player in 2022, but now – just three years later – he has fallen way down the pecking order for both club and country. After all, the former Leeds United man spent last season on loan with Ipswich Town, while he also spent a short spell with West Ham in the campaign prior.

For many, it’s even a surprise that Pep Guardiola named the Englishman in his 25-man squad for the new Premier League season. That he has been handed a kit number more befitting of an academy prospect only goes to emphasise Phillips’ diminished role in the squad.

As per The Standard, Phillips has since taken the No.44 shirt. That said, he’s not likely to be seen wearing it in the short term as he is currently sidelined after undergoing Achilles surgery.

Phillips New Shirt Worn Last By Karim Rekik in 2012/13

Very few players have worn the number 44 for Man City before. Indeed, just five men have been recorded as donning it in the past, with the most recent coming way back in 2013. That was Karim Rekik (11/12 – 12/13), who had it after Dedryck Boyata (09/10), Willo Flood (03/04 – 05/06), Karim Kerkar (02/03), and Ali Benarbia (01/02).

It’s fair to say, none of those men made much of an impact at City, with Benarbia’s 78 appearances the most of any of the men mentioned.

Phillips has never worn that kit number before, either. At Ipswich, he was No.8; at West Ham, he had No.11; and famously at Leeds he wore No.23 (although he also had No.27 and No.4 with the club before).

To date, Phillips has only made 31 appearances for City, and lost his spot in the team some time ago. His last competitive appearance for the Citizens came on 19 December 2023, when he played against Urawa Reds in the Club World Cup. In total, it has been 633 days since the midfielder last played competitively for City.

There was talk that Phillips would return to Leeds United this summer, but no move ever materialised. His estimated £140,000-a-week wages may well have been an issue. Now, though, it looks as though he has been given one last chance to resurrect his career at City – albeit, wearing a rather strange number.