Liverpool defender Nat Phillips has been called “outstanding” by his manager at loan club Derby County, with John Eustace stating he wants to keep him.
Phillips has become a forgotten man at Liverpool.
His excellent form at the end of the 2020/21 season, when he partnered Rhys Williams in defence, brought him to the attention of fans but he hasn’t developed into a Reds starter.
Since the summer of 2021, he has played made just eight Liverpool appearances and hasn’t featured since January 2023.
With his contract not expiring until 2026, he has spent this season on loan at Derby in the Championship, where he has gradually improved as the campaign has progressed.
Manager Eustace, who took over in February, was asked if he would like to keep Phillips next season.
He responded (h/t Derbyshire Live): “Yeah, for sure. I think he’s been outstanding and his performances have been very good. The match-winning header last week was awesome.”
The header the coach referred to came in an important game at the bottom of the Championship, with both Hull and Phillips’ Derby potentially threatened by relegation – neither side would ultimately go down.
The score was 0-0 when Phillips, after 84 minutes, rose highest in the box to turn home Craig Forsyth’s excellent dead-ball delivery.
It has been in front of his own goal, though, where Phillips has had the most impact, as you would expect from a centre-half.
Phillips played every minute of Derby’s last 11 league fixtures, conceding just eight goals in that period.
Eustace continued: “We’ve slowly got more clean sheets which is great.
“If you look at the time that we’ve been here, it’s a seven-week program for pre-season, there’s been a lot of work put in to get to this stage now where we’re very competitive and hard to play against.
“That’s been a group effort from the players and understanding their roles and responsibilities. To lose two of the last 11 is a fantastic achievement from where we came in.
“It’s just a lot of hard work on the training field really and they’ve all been very good.”
Phillips is expected to move on from Liverpool this summer after spending time on loan at Stuttgart, Bournemouth, Celtic, Cardiff and Derby.
It was actually a surprise he didn’t leave last summer, but with one year left on his deal, you would expect the Reds to want a fee for his sale, rather than letting him go for free after another loan spell.
