Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips are very good friends. A partnership which blossomed on the pitch for England became a strong friendship away from the game with the West Ham and Manchester City players boasting a good bond.
There is some talk the two could find themselves at the same club next season with the treble winners on the lookout for a significant midfield replacement for departing captain Ilkay Gundogan, who is now expected to turn down a new contract to move to Barcelona. However, if Rice is to choose the Premier League champions over Arsenal who are making a strong play for his signature, then it could be that ex-Leeds United favourite Phillips proves the deal breaker.
That's the view of former club owner turned pundit Simon Jordan, who thinks Man City boss Pep Guardiola would be more than willing to let Phillips join West Ham, to ensure the Hammers get a significant transfer fee in the region of £75m, plus an England international midfielder in Phillips to replace Rice.
Phillips is understood to prefer staying at Man City despite starting just four games last season and knowing the arrival of Rice is only going to make getting into the midfield equally as tough as last year. However, Jordan feels a conversation with Guardiola could change Phillips' approach and if that were to happen, Arsenal would have little chance of getting their man.
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“Do I think Declan Rice will be sold to Arsenal? I don’t know… it depends who else comes in," Jordan told talkSPORT. “There is a makeweight opportunity in this deal. What Kalvin Phillips says and what Pep Guardiola tells him might be two different things.
“If he says he wants to stay at Man City and Guardiola says, ‘that’s very commendable son, by you ain’t playing’, then his attitude will have to change. There are a variety of ways this deal can be done, and if there’s a situation where West Ham are prepared to let Declan Rice go in exchange for something in return.
“Suddenly you’re doing a £75m deal with cash, plus you’re taking Kalvin Phillips, and you’re making it happen that way. That might not be the case, it might be unfair to put him [Phillips] in the equation. But West Ham are going to have a need, they’re going to have to replace this player and Phillips might be the makeweight.”
