The 30-year-old made just three appearances on loan at Sheffield United in the Championship last season before another injury ended his campaign. It continued a pattern that has defined his time since joining Manchester City for £45m from Leeds United in 2022 — loan spells at West Ham United, Ipswich Town and Sheffield United have failed to provide the consistency he needs.
Phillips was candid about the cycle that has held him back.
"It was alright, all two [three] games of it," he told the Yorkshire Evening Post. "I suffered an injury which kept me out for the rest of the season.
"That's been the problem for me the last three years of not playing regularly — it's made me acquire more injuries and stuff like that. So I'm looking forward to hopefully having a good season, actually."
City will again look to move Phillips on this summer, with a permanent deal the preference over another loan. Sporting director Hugo Viana is under pressure to reshape the midfield more broadly, with Elliot Anderson arriving for a club-record £116m this summer and further business expected.
Sandro Tonali and Morocco teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi are among the players City hold interest in as Viana assesses his options, while Phillips, Matheus Nunes, Nico González and Tijjani Reijnders represent four midfield signings over the past five seasons who have failed to establish themselves as regulars.
For Phillips personally, the determination in his words is clear. At 30, with three years still on his contract, the window to salvage a career that looked so promising when he won the Premier League with Leeds and earned a big-money move to City is narrowing. A permanent exit this summer and a settled run of games somewhere represents his only real path back.