Pep apologizes to Kalvin for ‘overweight’ comments

The Sky Blues head coach, Pep Guardiola, has apologized to Kalvin Phillips for sharing that the midfielder was “overweight” on his return from the Qatar World Cup.

Man City manager Pep Guardiola has apologised to Kalvin Phillips for calling him overweight when the midfielder returned from the 2022 World Cup 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/Aech8Z55o8

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 20, 2024

Pep made the comments in December 2022, revealing to the reporters why Kalvin had been left out of his selection for a Carabao Cup 4^th round match vs. Liverpool.

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Phillips admitted Guardiola’s words were “a big knock to my confidence” when asked about them at the beginning of February.

“I’m sorry,” the Manchester City manager claimed. “I do apologize to Phillips. I’m so sorry.”

Pep added that he spoke to Kalvin, who inked with the Hammers on loan in January, about the problem when the midfielder returned from a short break immediately after the World Cup.

“I did speak about that,” revealed Guardiola. “I never before shared something here with the reporters without speaking to the footballer.”

Kalvin’s period at West Ham has been difficult so far as he was sent off for 2 yellow cards within 3 minutes in the past weekend as his team lost 2-0 vs. Nottingham Forest.