Manchester City Star 'Instrumental' In Persuading Kalvin Phillips To Choose The Etihad Stadium

The words of one Manchester City star have been described as 'instrumental' in persuading Kalvin Phillips to join the club, according to a new report.

The Leeds United midfielder is on the verge of completing a £42 million move from Elland Road to the Etihad Stadium.

An announcement from the Premier League champions is expected next week.

Phillips returned from his summer holidays early this week, undergoing the necessary medical tests with Manchester City on Friday afternoon.

It is understood that the player then completed the various media duties with the club's in-house production team.

City are expected to run a social media campaign to announce the signing of the 26 year-old in the coming days - similar, but not as extensive, to how Erling Haaland was unveiled last month.

Kalvin Phillips is set to become Manchester City's fourth signing of 2022, following on from two other players this summer alone.

Julian Alvarez agreed to a deal to join the Premier League champions last January, and will make his move to England this week before meeting his new teammates for pre-season.

This summer alone, Manchester City have finalised deals for Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, and Arminia Bielefeld's Stefan Ortega, while Brighton & Hove Albion's Marc Cucurella remains a priority target for the remainder of the window.

However, the signing of Phillips may be largely thanks to the words of persuasion from one Manchester City star, according to a new report this week.

As per Jeremy Cross of the Daily Star, Jack Grealish was 'instrumental' in persuading Kalvin Phillips to follow the footsteps he made last summer.

It is further highlighted that the England international duo have become 'close' friends in recent times, and will now strengthen that bond together at the City Football Academy.

It was reported on Friday night that Phillips had in fact made a late decision to take on the same representative agency as Grealish to finalise negotiations with Manchester City on his behalf last week.

Phillips and Grealish will not have too long to wait before they are re-united for pre-season either.

Manchester City's first-team players are expected to have returned to the club's training base near the Etihad Stadium on July 11th, before the club embark on their tour of the United States later in the same week.

Pep Guardiola's side have two fixtures scheduled against Club America and Bayern Munich, before they return to England later in the month to face Liverpool in the traditional curtain-raiser to the season; the Community Shield.