Kalvin Phillips opens up on impact of Pep Guardiola weight comments - 'It peed me off'

Ipswich Town anchor Kalvin Phillips is loving life under Kieran McKenna, who has handled one particular topic very differently to his Man City boss, Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola's comment regarding Kalvin Phillips' weight led to the England midfielder becoming "peed off" with other clubs.

More specifically, the 28-year-old grew frustrated that his weight was always in the line of questioning when talking to suitors after that quote. It was after the 2022 World Cup that Manchester City manager Guardiola suggested Phillip came back from Qatar overweight, which has stuck with him as a sort of stigma in the public eye since then.

Phillips - who joined Ipswich Town on loan from City this summer - explained current boss Kieran McKenna is also focused on body composition, as were previous managers like Pep and Marcelo Bielsa. He appeared alongside former Leeds team-mate Patrick Bamford on the My Mate's A Footballer podcast to discuss how Guardiola's public prodding led to a ripple effect.

“You probably heard about the time when Pep came out and said that I was overweight after the World Cup and stuff," he said. "And I think that narrative on social media just kind of grew and grew. Every club that I'd go to, I spoke to, like the manager and the nutritionist and stuff like that, they'd always speak about weight before they'd say anything else.

"And it got to the point where it peed me off a little bit. I was getting quite frustrated with it, but then now I've come to Ipswich like the manager's an unbelievable person as well as a manager. And, you know, we spoke about all my past stuff that happened in my career and stuff like that.

"And he kind of just said I'm big on body composition and I just want you to get to where you was when you left Leeds or when you was at Leeds. And I think that'll give us a good starting point for you to push on and hopefully get back, back to where you was.”

Phillips wasn't the only one expected to shed a few kilos at Leeds, but Bamford touched upon how Bielsa was "harshest on Kalv" because he saw his potential. And the diet regime was strict, forcing Phillips to go some evenings with just a protein shake for sustenance before getting back to the grind the next day.

The player knew such restrictions weren't sustainable if he wanted to avoid injury and other dangers, however. And after working so hard to earn his £42million move to City in 2022, Phillips was subjected to more weight-based treatment at the Etihad.

Image: Manchester City FC via Getty Images) Manchester City FC via Getty Images)

To his credit, Guardiola has since apologised for commenting publicly on Phillips' weight. The midfielder has opened up about the struggles he's faced in football and life on the whole since that saga, confessing previously that it's affected his confidence in general.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Once in eight years is not bad," said Guardiola in February 2024. "But I’m so sorry. I apologise to him. I spoke to him before [making the comment]. I never, ever don’t speak to the team before I say something here, or the player in that case.”

Podcast host Joe Wilkinson joked his stricter diet meant he was "not allowed choc ices again," but his measures were far more extreme. Whatever the new plan, it appears to be working after he played an important role in Ipswich's recent 2-2 draw against Villa as he looks to keep the Tractor Boys trucking toward Premier League survival.

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