ROY Hodgson says Crystal Palace could potentially be interested in a loan move for Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
The 28-year-old has struggled to make an impact at the Etihad since completing a 2022 switch from Leeds United.
Phillips has been linked with a January move away from the treble winners to boost his chances of making Gareth Southgate’s European Championship squad this summer.
And Hodgson didn’t exactly deny today Palace could be among those chasing his signature, although realistically it would only be on a temporary basis.
The SE25 chief said: “He’s a good player.
“I would like to think that if Kalvin Phillips is available and is a possibility for the club – once again, there would be financial restrictions, who knows whether the club feels they can afford that – but if you’re talking about the level of player, I don’t think there would be many managers who would not say ‘yeah, we’d be really happy to have him come to the club.’
“But as far as I’m concerned, it’s a name that’s out there.
“All we know, like most other clubs, is there’s a possibility that Manchester City will either sell him or loan him.”
Hodgson added: “If they are purely going to sell him, then I wouldn’t think we would be in the market.
“If they are going to loan him, I would like to think that possibly we could put our hand up and push ourselves forward and what we could then, of course, offer is probably the chance of playing regular football in the Premier League in the build-up to what is going to be a very important summer for England and obviously for him.
“But we might not be the only club in that position, so at the end of the day a lot will have to happen I think before we find out where Kalvin Phillips is going to end up, if he’s going to go anywhere.”
Financial Fair Play is very much the topic dominating the agenda right now after Everton and Nottingham Forest were hit with fresh charges yesterday.
The Toffees have already been hit with a 10-point deduction earlier this season and face Palace tomorrow in an FA Cup replay.
Hodgson was reluctant to comment on the rights and wrongs of their off-field issues, but did point out there are unlikely to be any similar problems for Eagles supporters to worry about.
He said: “I think the club has been very well managed in the six years, I suppose, that I’ve been closely involved with it.
“There’s only been one real spell of spending when a new investor came in, and that money was spent extremely wisely.
“But I mean since that, I thought the club was very sensible in what they did.
“They were very happy with the players they brought in.”
Hodgson added:
“I don’t think when we looked at it there were that many glaring gaps that the club thought they had to fill, so I am 100 percent behind what Steve Parish and Crystal Palace Football Club do.
“Because I do think that it’s very important that you abide by whatever rules are set up and you make certain that your club is viable and stable, so that every year your fans hopefully will get the chance to come and watch the team in the division they want to watch the team in.”
