New signing Kalvin Phillips has set his sights on becoming West Ham United’s latest January hero, after finalising his loan move from Manchester City until the end of the season.
Fresh from putting pen to paper at London Stadium - and becoming the Hammers’ first arrival of the ongoing transfer window - the 28-year-old midfielder jumped straight into the Iron Cast chair to chat to co-hosts Chris Scull and James Collins.
While quick to share his delight at joining a club which has long been on his radar, the Leeds United Academy product insists he cannot wait to get going with everything still to play for in Europe and in the league.
LISTEN TO THE FULL PODCAST HERE!
The likes of Jesse Lingard, Jarrod Bowen and Tomáš Souček were all brought to the Club halfway through previous campaigns, and Phillips is hoping to follow their pattern and inspire more success in the remainder of 2023/24.
“Hopefully I can follow in some of the other players’ footsteps and be a successful January signing!” he said.
“Jesse did brilliantly when he was here, and Jarrod and Tomáš are huge for the Club now, so they’re not easy acts to follow but I’ll do my best!
“I’m delighted to get it over the dotted line. I was over in Abu Dhabi on a warm-weather training camp with City, and all I could think about was getting the loan sorted.
“Honestly, if City hadn’t come in for me back in the summer of 2022 I think I could’ve come to West Ham before. The manager has told me he’s been after me for two years or so, so it’s almost like it’s inevitable that I’m finally here. I just can’t wait to get going now.”
Phillips is already well-acquainted with a number of his new teammates through his involvement with the England national side, as well as former Irons skipper Declan Rice.
Having made his debut for the Three Lions against Denmark in September 2020, and firmly established himself at the delayed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, he has since gone on to tally a total of 31 caps, scoring once against North Macedonia last year.
He said: “I’ve spoken to Dec quite a bit about West Ham over time, and he’s always said amazing things. I also get on well with Jarrod [Bowen], Ingsy [Danny Ings] and Prowsey [James Ward-Prowse] - I’ve not had chance to speak to them yet, but I’ll look forward to seeing them in training!
“England’s always amazing, and I’ll always remember my first call up. I was in the car driving to training in Leeds when Gareth Southgate phoned, and it took me a few seconds to pick up. After the call, I just screamed at the top of my voice!
“Obviously Euro 2024 is coming up, which is very exciting. A lot of the players are doing amazingly at the moment - you look at people like Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham smashing it in Europe, for example - and there are a lot of good signs. Hopefully I can continue to play a part going into the summer.”
With just ten appearances to his name in 2023/24, and 31 in total for Pep Guardiola’s charges, Phillips is hoping to boost his international chances by earning regular gametime in Claret and Blue, starting with next Thursday’s Premier League home clash against AFC Bournemouth.
Phillips added: “I’m just so excited to get going. I’ve watched a lot of West Ham over the years, I saw the celebrations from Prague last summer and I’ve played at London Stadium several times, so I know the quality of the environment I’m coming into.
“You look at players like Lucas Paquetá and Mohammed Kudus, and the whole squad in truth, and it’s not hard to get excited. I can’t wait to meet everyone at face value, get stuck into training and then get out on the pitch.
“I’ve already looked at the fixtures, and it’s Bournemouth and Manchester United coming up. My good friend [from my Leeds days] Lewis Cook plays for Bournemouth, so that’s a good one to start, and hopefully I’m the one smiling at the final whistle.”
You can check out the whole Iron Cast episode in the video player above, or you can download and subscribe to Iron Cast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and RSS here now!
