UPATE NEWS: According to a journalist, Liverpool could make a play to sign the 27-year-old right now.

Liverpool’s interest in Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips is genuine and concrete.

Phillips has been surprisingly floated as one of the players being considered by Liverpool as the final piece of their midfield rebuild.

It perhaps wouldn’t be a popular move given the 27-year-old’s pretty dismal injury history. But speaking on TalkSPORT, journalist Alex Crook says there is ‘definite interest’ from the Reds.

Definite interest from Liverpool and one to keep an eye on is the way to dress it up between next week,” Crook explains.

“It feels a bit like the calm before the storm, not just with Liverpool and with the transfer window in general, I really think it will ramp up as we head into next week and clubs maybe get a little bit desperate towards the end of the window.”

Phillips links continue

Adding a little more information on a different TalkSPORT update, Crook expanded to say that Phillips is ‘one to keep a real eye on’ for Liverpool.

“The other intriguing name from the Premier League is that of Kalvin Phillips, a player who has been on Liverpool’s radar in the recent past and just isn’t getting game time at Man City,” he says.

“Yes, he has medals around his neck but surely in a European Championship season he has to be playing regular football. We know Liverpool have the money to spend, they were willing to pay more than £110 million for Moises Caicedo and £60 million for Romeo Lavia. This is one to keep a real eye on.”

For a few different reasons, we’d still be incredibly surprised to see Phillips become a Liverpool player between now and next week.

It isn’t just his injury record, it’s the fact that he’s no longer a player you feel can improve. At 27 he should be in his peak years, but the former Leeds man feels like a fading force.

Perhaps that’s unfair. But it’s the way the majority of Liverpool fans would see his signing. We want to be competing with Man City, not signing their cast-offs. It wouldn’t go down well.

So, regardless of what Crook says, we think the Reds will have a number of players ahead of Phillips in their shortlist. It’s true that they seem to have been fans of him before, but things have changed in the past year. No, thank you.