Kalvin Phillips tells what really shocked him the first time he trained with Arsenal’s Declan Rice

Rice and Phillips worked brilliantly together when England reached the final of that tournament, and although it has been some time since they played together, there is still a real mutual feeling of respect between the two men.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Phillips has been gushing about the Arsenal star and has nothing but good things to say about Rice.

Kalvin Phillips praises Declan Rice

The Manchester City loanee praised his former England team-mate.

Phillips said Rice is an unbelievable player, while recalling how surprised he was when the pair trained together for the first time.

In fact, Phillips says he was shocked by how athletic Rice was when he played alongside him for the first time.

“Dec is unbelievable, the first time I trained with him in England I realized he was just a player who was going to leave, so he was just an athlete, I didn’t expect him to be so tall, so strong and when I got there I was amazed with how good he was on the ball, how he covered ground, how much ground he covered, I love Declan,” Phillips said.

What Xavi said about Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice

Just a few years ago, Rice and Phillips formed one of the best midfield duos in all of Europe.

In fact, England were perhaps at their best when Phillips and Rice were in the same team, and even received praise from Barcelona legend Xavi.

Xavi was extremely impressed with Rice and Phillips at that European Championship.

“I was also very impressed with the two midfielders, Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips. I didn’t know them very well, but they were excellent,” said Xavi.

Since then, Rice has reached increasingly high levels since joining Arsenal, while Phillips has struggled on loan at West Ham and is now looking to rebuild at Ipswich.

Hopefully Phillips can return to his best during this spell at the Tractor Boys, as he and Rice were once a vital component of an England team that came so close to winning a major tournament.

Related Topics