10 months ago
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PEP GUARDIOLA has apologised to Kalvin Phillips for fat-shaming him.
The Manchester City boss criticised his England midfielder for being 1.5kg overweight when he returned from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
AFPBut Phillips, trying to rebuild his career on loan at West Ham, revealed the comments had a huge impact on him.
Guardiola has said it was the only time in his City reign he made such a mistake.
He said: “Yeah, I’m sorry. Once in eight years is not bad but I’m so sorry. I apologise to him. I do. I’m so sorry.”
Guardiola insisted he had done things the right way in speaking to the £45million signing BEFORE the player told the whole world, after he joined the Hammers last month.
The Etihad chief added: “I spoke about that. Before our game, I spoke to him.
“Before I say something here, I speak with the players — and I did in that case.”
Phillips, 28, started just two Premier League games in 18 months at City — and only six matches in total.
He moved to West Ham to try to preserve his England place ahead of this summer’s Euros finals in Germany but has endured a disastrous few weeks.
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His errors resulted in the Irons conceding goals in his first two appearances, a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth and 3-0 loss at Manchester United.
Phillips was then sent off for two yellow cards in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest.
Earlier this month, Phillips opened up about his tough time at City following his move from Leeds in 2022.
And he revealed the jibes about being overweight had taken a heavy toll on him.
He said: “After the World Cup was probably the toughest, when Pep came out and said I was overweight.
“He was right to do so but there are different ways to go about it.
“It was just a misunderstanding, he was very frustrated with me coming back 1.5kg over my target weight.
“It took a big knock on my confidence and how I felt at City.
“My family were not happy about it, either, especially my mum.”
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