Pep Guardiola responds to Leeds chants aimed at Kalvin Phillips

Pep Guardiola brushed off chants from Leeds fans targeted at Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips by labelling the England international as ‘so sexy’.

The 27-year-old had previously been singled out by Guardiola for returning ‘overweight’ from World Cup duty with England ahead of their Carabao Cup victory over Liverpool before Christmas.

Phillips, who joined City from Leeds in the summer, was singled out by the Elland Road faithful who sang ‘You’re too fat to play for Leeds’ and ‘Kalvin Phillips, he eats what he wants’. Phillips saw the funny side himself while warming up and soon drew applause from the crowd, though he remained an unused substitute.

Speaking on the chants after the match, Guardiola responded: “He has the perfect body now – so sexy. We will see for the weekend.

“He has spent the first part of the season out with surgery to arrive for the World Cup and did everything to get to the World Cup.

“It’s not just about just being fit, you also have to understand what we want to do, the movements etc.

“So that means, as quick as possible, because Rodri cannot play all the games, so as quick as possible he will play.

“But I’m happy that yesterday for example Kalvin trained really well and sooner or later he will play.”

City’s win over Leeds took them within five points of Premier League leaders Arsenal, having gone into the World Cup break off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Brentford.