Pep Guardiola comments suggest he could allow Kalvin Phillips to join Man City’s title rivals Liverpool

Pep Guardiola's recent comments on Manchester City's transfer strategy could pave the way for Kalvin Phillips to join Liverpool.

talkSPORT understands that the Reds, along with Newcastle, have the midfielder on their shortlist for the January transfer window.

Phillips has recently revealed that he will consider a move away from City, having made just one start in all competitions this season.

On the surface, a move to Premier League title rivals Liverpool may seem like a risky piece of business for the reigning champions.

However, Guardiola has hinted that he wouldn't block such moves.

Speaking when queried about Raheem Sterling's move to Premier League rivals Chelsea, he said: «Never. Never ever [would I stand in the way],»

«From my point of view, I have said this to the club many times. I give my opinion to the club and they decide if the transfer suits for both sides and the player.

“Why? I think that means you are a small club [if you block a transfer]. Big clubs, they don’t care. They make decisions for the benefit of all three parties, players and both clubs — and the agents sometimes. So really it is not a problem.‌

“If they want to go to Chelsea or [Manchester] United or, I don’t know, Liverpool, whatever, what is the problem? They are happy to be there and the club is happy with the transfer.

»The other club is happy with the amount of money they spend, so it is fine. Another player will come to us and we keep going in a good spirit and a good mood.”

City are no strangers to engaging in transfer business with the rest of the traditional top six and it hasn't been detrimental to their success.

They sold both Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko last summer to Arsenal, who led the title race for much of the 2023/24