West Ham United forward Michail Antonio believes Manchester United should be towards the top of Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips’ shortlist of possible suitors.

The England international, who joined City from Leeds United in July 2022, is expected to leave the club on loan in this month’s transfer window. He has struggled for regular opportunities since joining the Blues, making just 31 appearances in all competitions.

Struggling to store regular minutes under his belt at the Etihad Stadium, Phillips has been linked with a plethora of clubs in recent weeks, both domestically and abroad. Italian giants Juventus have been installed as one of the favourites to clinch his signature.

In the opinion of Antonio, who joined West Ham from Nottingham Forest back in 2015, if he was in Phillips’ shoes, a move to Juventus would be the most lucrative. However, if United were to enter the race for his signature, he insists they should be second on Phillips’ list of potential options.

Antonio, speaking on the Footballer’s Football podcast, said: “For me, I’m going to Juventus, after Juventus, it would be Man United and then it would be the Magpies.

“That’s from me, from a personal standpoint I always wanted to play in Italy, Inter Milan always had a place in my heart, and the city, I love it, I love Milan.”

United, who face Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup third round on Monday evening, were, as reported by the Manchester Evening News at the time, working on a deal to sign Phillips in April 2022. The midfielder, of course, joined City later that year.

Issuing an update on Phillips’ chances of leaving City this month, manager Pep Guardiola, speaking on Friday, said: “I don’t know, only I said the last five days has been sick, he couldn’t train. The rest on transfer market, I said many times. Txiki [Begiristain] is there.

“What’s going to happen is going to happen. I’m not going to anticipate anything here because I don’t know the desire of the players. Some of them I know, but some of them I don’t.”

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