Five footballers told they were ‘overweight’ as Pep Guardiola calls out Kalvin Phillips

Manchester City star Kalvin Phillips is not alone in being told he’s “overweight” after Pep Guardiola called him out for his fitness.

Speaking ahead of their trip to Leeds in the Premier League next week, City boss Guardiola said Phillips is “not in the right condition to train” after returning from the World Cup with England out of shape.

The Spaniard told reporters: “He is not injured. He arrived overweight. I don’t know [why]. He didn’t arrive in the condition for the training sessions and to play.”

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Guardiola went on to add: “When he will be ready, he will play. We need him. We need him a lot.” But he refused to disclose any more information, asserting: “It’s a private conversation with Kalvin.”

While it’s rare to see players singled out for their weight, it has happened in the past. So Daily Star Sport is looking at five other footballers who were in the same boat as Phillips.

Was Guardiola wrong to say what he did about Phillips? Let us know in the comments section.

Sergio Aguero

Guardiola actually has a tracked record in this department, have previously told City legend Sergio Aguero the same thing.

However, he didn’t put the former striker on blast in the media like he has with Phillips, instead keeping the issue private.

Aguero only dropped the bombshell back in October as he reflected on Guardiola’s debut season in charge at the Etihad.

He said: “Well the first season we were between fourth and third and he said ‘I left you out because you turned up fat this week’.

“And what was I going to say? He was right… these things happen.”

Benni McCarthy

Former West Ham striker Benni McCarthy was very publicly challenged about his fitness issues during his spell with the club.

It got so bad that he was cut from their 25-man Prem squad mid-way through the 2010/11 season. At his peak he was believed to weigh over 15 stone.

Then-manager Avram Grant explained: “He’s a very good player and one of the best finishers in training that I have ever seen, and I have had some good players.

“But now we need players with movement and the advantage of being quick, and we have others.”

McCarthy also got into a spat with Hammers vice-chairman Karren Brady, who he called “the devil with t***” after she said he was “more devoted to filling his belly than filling the net”.

Luke Shaw

The stigma of Luke Shaw being overweight has harshly stuck with the Manchester United and England left-back ever since Louis Van Gaal slammed him for it.

Upon his arrival at Old Trafford in the summer of 2014, the veteran Dutch manager made his new acquisition train separately from the rest of the Red Devils squad.

“I think he [Shaw] needs to be fit and he is not very fit, therefore he can’t perform what I want,” said Van Gaal. “He has to be fit first and to train individually.”

And while it was especially tough love, Shaw has gone on to establish himself as one of the best around in his position.

Romelu Lukaku

Romelu Lukaku has managed to balloon not once, but twice in his career. He returned for the 2018/19 season with United having piled on the pounds in the off season.

Upon leaving the club for Inter Milan at the end of that campaign, former defender and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville attacked his “overweight” issue.

“He will score goals and do well at Inter Milan but unprofessionalism is contagious,” Neville tweeted, although Lukaku claimed a digestion issue was the problem.

Then after getting in shape in Milan, he let loose during his lacklustre year with Chelsea last season.

Inter immediately ordered him back on to his strict Mediterranean diet when he re-joined them on a season long loan in June.

Eden Hazard

There must be something with loving food a bit too much in Belgium because Lukaku’s international team-mate Eden Hazard has endured weight issues too.

It never seemed to be a problem throughout his seven-year Stamford Bridge stay, but it’s been a constant criticism during his time with Real Madrid.

He admitted to arriving overweight after his £100m plus move in 2019, telling L’Equipe: “It’s true. I’m not going to hide it, but when I’m on vacation, I’m on vacation.

“I had put on five kilos, I’m the type to put on quickly and lose so quickly if I’m careful. When I was 18, in Lille, I was 72 or 73 kg. Muscle mass was 75 kg, on a bad day, 77 kg. I was 80 kg this summer, I lost it in 10 days.”

But he then did it again the following pre-season. And a reporter shockingly suggested he’d gained weight before the World Cup last month.

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