Everton would complete the signing of Kalvin Phillips “tomorrow” if Manchester City’s terms changed, according to Joe Thomas.
The Toffees are understood to be interested in securing the midfielder’s signature this summer, with reports suggesting Sean Dyche’s side would only be able to finance a loan transfer [Alex Crook, 23 July].
While City may be open to sanctioning another temporary exit, they’ll want it to be on terms that suit them and Liverpool Echo journalist Thomas believes that has stopped the Blues from banging down their door.
Speaking on the Royal Blue YouTube channel (5, August, 40:00) he said: “All those roads point to why Kalvin Phillips would make a lot of sense.
“The stumbling block over there will be City trying to work out how much money they can get for him in wages and things like that. I think if the terms of the deal came towards Everton, it’s probably a deal that they would do tomorrow.
“But I think City probably want to do what they can to get as much money for his as they can either with a transfer fee, or a loan fee or whatever they can.\
“While teams are looking for the best deal possible, Everton are in a situation where they can knock on the door, but not in a situation where they can bust it down and say give him to us now.
“So that will probably be a bit of a wait-and-see.”
As Thomas suggests, a deal for Phillips seems to make perfect sense for the Toffees this summer as Dyche wants to bolster his midfield options while also adding some further Premier League experience.
The Manchester City man ticks both of those boxes, but he has been in poor form over the last couple of campaigns and any deal to bring him to Goodison Park will represent some sort of risk for the Blues.