New West Ham signing Kalvin Phillips says he did consult England teammate Declan Rice before joining the Hammers.

Despite knowing some of the Hammers’ current players, Phillips revealed he sought the advice of the Arsenal midfielder ahead of completing his loan move to the London Stadium from Manchester City:

“I know quite a bit (about West Ham). I know the song before the game! I’ve spoken to Dec quite a bit about West Ham as well and I’ve not spoken to Jarrod (Bowen) or (Danny) Ingsy or Prowsey yet but I’ll see them tomorrow at training.”

“I didn’t watch the game (the Europa Conference League final triumph), but I watched the celebrations. I saw loads of videos of Dec celebrating as well. I was very happy for Dec and Jarrod – they’re great guys and I speak to them quite a lot with England.”

Phillips could have joined West Ham 18 months ago

The 28-year-old’s time at City wasn’t particularly fruitful, having joined from Leeds for £42.5m in the summer of 2022.

Phillips has confirmed that he was aware of interest from Hammers boss David Moyes at the time but he decided to join the Premier League champions instead. That looks to have been a mistake after he started just 6 games in 18 months.

West Ham have an option to make the midfielder’s move permanent

The Irons do have a purchase clause in Phillips’ loan deal but they are not obligated to trigger it. There is already a feeling that the midfielder will return to City next summer as the agreed fee to buy him is said to be pretty substantial.

Phillips would probably have to exceed all expectations with his performances for the London club to take up their option to sign him on a permanent basis at the end of the season.