Pep Guardiola admits he was wrong to go public with his comments about Manchester City outcast Kalvin Phillips returning from World Club overweight and out of shape
Pep Guardiola has apologised to Kalvin Phillips for calling him overweight in public.
Guardiola outed Phillips after the England midfielder returned to the Etihad from the World Cup in Qatar out of shape. Phillips, who has joined West Ham on-loan until the end of the season, admitted the remarks knocked his confidence and upset his family.
Rival fans have since mocked Phillips over his weight issue. And Guardiola has now admitted he was wrong to go public with his comments.
He said: “Yeah, I’m sorry. Once in eight years is not bad. But I’m so sorry. I apologise to him. I do apologise. I’m so sorry.”
Phillips claimed he didn’t know Guardiola had planned to go public about him being overweight. But Guardiola said the pair had discussed the issue of his weight, before he decided to make it public knowledge in a post-match media conference. He added: “Oh no, I spoke about that.
“Yeah, before our game, I spoke to him. I never, never before said something here without speaking with the players in that case.”
Phillips admitted the issue had been one of his lowest points during his nightmare 18-month spell with the English champions.
He said: “After the World Cup was probably the toughest, when Pep came out and said I was overweight.
“He was right to do so, but there are different ways to go about it. I didn’t disagree with him, but obviously I took a big knock on my confidence and how I felt at City. My family weren’t happy about it, either – especially my mum.”
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