Kalvin Phillips gives 5 reasons he decided to sign for Man City & leave boyhood Leeds United

Kalvin Phillips has spoken at length about the reasons behind his decision to join Manchester City from Leeds United.

The 26 year-old is a boyhood fan of the Yorkshire club and spent his entire career at Leeds before his unveiling as a City player on Monday.

While it was evidently a difficult choice to leave Leeds, Phillips has explained he felt the opportunity to make advances in his career played a huge role in his decision to move on.

“I think throughout my childhood I have always been a Leeds fan. I have always loved Leeds and it is all I have ever known,” the England international told City’s media team during an extended interview.

“To come here is a big decision for me. It is a decision that took a lot of thinking about. It was just more the fact that I wanted to experience something different, how different teams work and how the fanbase works as well.”

“I just want to test myself in the next step with good players with an unbelievable work ethic and an unbelievable manager as well,” he added.

“I have come to this club because I had a dream that I wanted to play for one of the best clubs in the world and for one of the best managers as well.”

Phillips was also asked if the ability to develop at the Premier League champions was an important factor: “Definitely, that is one of the main reasons why I wanted to come to City, to improve my game in loads of different ways,” he responded.

“It is hard for me to say right now how I am going to play in the team, but I am thrilled to come to a team with 18 superstars. I am looking forward to just getting to know the boys.”

Playing under Guardiola

Phillips in’t the first - and won’t be the last - player who joins City out of a desire to play under Pep Guardiola.

Erling Haaland and Stefan Ortega both referenced it when they arrived at the Etihad earlier this window, and Phillips hopes the former Barcelona manager can bring his game to new levels.

“I think I am going to learn a lot from not just Pep but the whole team, even the good players that are playing in my position,” he said.

“That is one of the main things why I joined here; to be coached by Pep and to work with all of the stars in the team, integrate with them well, learn a lot of new things and excel my game even more.”