Pep Guardiola has accused Kalvin Phillips of returning from the World Cup overweight and unfit to play.
Manchester City star Phillips was not included in the squad for Thursday's 3-2 EFL Cup win over Liverpool, with Guardiola revealing it was because he was not in the right shape.
The midfielder trained with England in Qatar for four weeks, but played just 40 minutes at the World Cup, coming off the bench in England's games against Wales and Senegal. Despite being under the supervision of England's coaching and fitness staff for so long, Guardiola revealed Phillips reported back in such a poor state he was unable to train with the first-team squad.
"He's not injured,” said Guardiola. “He arrived overweight.
“I don't know why, but he didn't arrive in the condition to do training sessions and to play. That's why he cannot play. When he will be ready, he will play, because we need him, we need him a lot.”
Asked if he was disappointed with Phillips for not returning from the World Cup in the right shape, Guardiola said: "It's a private conversation with Kalvin."
Phillips has endured a nightmare start to his time at City since joining from Leeds for £50million in the summer. He has yet to start a game for City and has made just four substitute appearances, totalling 54 minutes.
His fellow England team-mates Phil Foden, John Stones and Jack Grealish came off the bench against Liverpool, with Kyle Walker an unused sub, but Phillips was nowhere to be seen.
A shoulder injury, which required surgery, kept Phillips out from September until November, and this latest episode is another setback in his bid to establish himself at City.
City travel to Leeds on Wednesday, with defender Nathan Ake admitting they face a huge task trying to reel in Premier League leaders Arsenal, who hold a five-point lead over them.
“We’re going to do everything to challenge them,” said Ake. “They’re doing really well this season. We’ve started off well since coming back now - our first game out of the way - and hopefully we carry on like this.”
