Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has publicly apologized to Kalvin Phillips for revealing that the midfielder was overweight last season. Phillips, who is currently on loan at West Ham United, was instructed to stay away from Manchester City over Christmas after failing to meet the target weight set by Guardiola following his return from a post-World Cup holiday in New York.
The 28-year-old recently expressed feeling hurt by Guardiola's public announcement of the issue. Phillips' mother, Lindsay, stopped attending City matches following the incident. Phillips acknowledged that he did not dispute Guardiola's assessment but felt that there were better ways to address the matter. The two have not discussed the issue since.
Guardiola expressed regret, stating, "Yeah, I'm sorry. [Apologizing] once in eight years is not bad. But I'm so sorry. I apologize to him. I do apologize. I'm so sorry."
Phillips revealed in a summer interview with Mail Sport that he was unaware of Guardiola's comments until after he had returned to training. Guardiola confirmed that he spoke to Phillips before addressing the issue publicly.
Phillips maintained that he found the public reaction to his weight amusing, stating, "It doesn't faze me. I'm the footballer and living my dream, doing the thing I love."
He explained that his weight gain was due to water retention and other factors after a long flight from New York to Manchester followed by immediate training. Guardiola, under pressure after City's 1-1 draw against Chelsea, will aim to guide his team back to second place with a victory over Brentford on Tuesday night.
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