Kalvin Phillips settles debate between Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer before saying: ‘He’ll hate me for this’

In recent years, Kalvin Phillips has played for club or country with Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer – but who comes out on top?

The 28-year-old midfielder, who is currently on loan at newly promoted Ipswich from Manchester City, was tasked with assessing all three players Sky Sports‘latest YouTube video.

During his time at City, Phillips shared the pitch with Foden and Palmer and played alongside Bukayo Saka on numerous occasions with England.

But it wasn’t long before he put Foden at the top of his list. “I’m going with Phil [Foden] number one,” he said. “I had heard about him when I came to City and the season he had last year…”

After a hugely impressive campaign in 2023/24, Foden won the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year award with 42 per cent of the vote, finishing ahead of Rodri and Declan Rice.

He also received the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award after scoring a career-high 19 league goals and eight assists over the course of the season.

Phillips put his former teammate Cole Palmer behind Foden.

“I left with Cole Palmer at two,” he said. “I trained with him a lot at City and saw how he got his chance at Chelsea and grabbed it by the throat.”

Palmer, who finished last season with 27 goals and 15 assists in all competitions, has been Chelsea’s standout performer for months.

He continues to impress in the England shirt even when given the chance. In fact, he was recently named England’s Player of the Year for 2023/24, finishing ahead of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka.

Photo credit: Getty

Speaking of Saka, a remorseful Phillips relegated the Arsenal winger to third place.

“He’ll hate me for this,” laughed the midfielder. “I would say he has been the most consistent of the three over the years. Hopefully he can show that consistently this year and have a really good season.”