10 months ago
143 Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has given his verdict on Nathaniel Phillips’s loan spell at Celtic.
Klopp has also dropped a hint on whether or not Phillips would be part of his Liverpool first-team squad for the second half of the season.
So, what has Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said about Celtic and Nathaniel Phillips? Let’s take a look.
Jurgen Klopp suggests Nathaniel Phillips could leave Liverpool in January
Well, Nathaniel Phillips is back at Liverpool from his loan spell at Celtic, and manager Jurgen Klopp has suggested that he could leave the Reds again in the January transfer window.
Phillips, who was linked with Leeds United, joined Celtic on loan from Liverpool in the summer of 2023. The defender did not have a fruitful spell at the reigning Scottish champions.
The defender had injury concerns at the Hoops, and there was also competition for places in manager Brendan Rodgers’s team.
The 26-year-old made three starts and three substitute appearances in the Scottish Premiership for Celtic this season.
The centre-back also made one start and one substitute appearance in the UEFA Champions League for the Hoops.
While Klopp does not seem too disappointed with how Phillips did at Celtic, he has suggested that the defender could leave Liverpool later this month.
Klopp told Liverpool’s official website about Phillips: “With Nat we have to see, we have to see. We have to consider our own situation and stuff like this. He will definitely be with us until the end of the month and then we will have talks and see our situation, that’s how it is.
“We really think highly of both (Phillips and Rhys Williams), to be honest, because of the things the boys did when they were here.
“Nat, it didn’t work out 100 per cent at Celtic, a little bit injuries but then if a team like Celtic is in a positive moment and you are in the team you stay in the team, if [they are] not in a positive moment and you are in the team then you might go out, so that says nothing about the quality. So, Nat will train with us and then we will see how that develops.”
My View: No future at Liverpool for Nathaniel Phillips
In my opinion, Liverpool defender Nathaniel Phillips does not have a future at the club. I do not envisage the defender playing for the Reds in the long term.
Phillips is 26 now and has been on the books of Liverpool since 2016. He has made a handful of appearances for the Reds and has been out on loan at VfB Stuttgart, Bournemouth and Celtic in recent years.
If Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp felt that Phillips had a chance to succeed at Anfield, then he would not have sent him out on loan in the summer of 2023.
Phillips is under contract at Liverpool until the summer of 2025. I think that it would be best for the player and the club if he left permanently, either in the January transfer window or in the summer of 2024.
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