Liverpool centre-back set for Championship loan move

Liverpool defender Nat Phillips is set for a loan move to Cardiff City until the end of the season, according to the Daily Mail. 

The 26-year-old had been a target for Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United earlier in the January transfer window but the Mail claims he has now travelled to Wales in order to complete a six-month loan deal.

The Reds had previously sent Phillips out on loan to Scottish champions Celtic on a half-season deal.

He only played eight times for the Hoops before returning to Anfield, scoring an own goal in a defeat against Kilmarnock in his final appearance. 

“It didn’t work out 100 percent at Celtic,” Jurgen Klopp said earlier this month. “A little bit injuries, but then if a team like Celtic is in a positive moment and you are in the team you stay in the team. 

“If [they are] not in a positive moment and you are in the team then you might go out, so that says nothing about the quality.”

Phillips made the breakthrough for Liverpool during the 2020/21 season as a deputy for the injured Virgil van Dijk, winning the hearts of Reds’ fans, featuring in 17 Premier League matches and 20 overall. 

However, the following season his playing time would be curtailed and he joined Bournemouth on loan, where he helped them achieve promotion to the Premier League. 

Leeds United had been linked with a permanent move for Phillips last summer, with a fee of £10m mooted, but it ultimately failed to materialise. 

He has found himself well down the pecking order on Merseyside since his return and needed another loan move in order to guarantee first-team football. 

The emergence of Jarell Quansah has given Klopp added breathing space at centre-back even in light of the serious injury suffered by Joel Matip earlier this season. 

Owen Beck, meanwhile, has returned to Dundee on loan, where he spent the first half the season before being initially recalled to help alleviate a defensive crisis. 

Calvin Ramsey has also moved on loan again this month, joining League One side Bolton Wanderers.