Pundit who works for Liverpool thinks 24-year-old wants out after what Klopp did this week

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What a hammer blow for Nat Phillips at Liverpool in midweek.

The 24-year-old defender would’ve been looking forward to making his first appearance of the season when Liverpool visited Norwich City in the EFL Cup.

But Reds boss Jurgen Klopp didn’t play him and instead partnered Joe Gomez with Ibrahima Konate.

Phillips played a huge role in helping the Anfield club qualify for the Champions League last season, resulting in a contract extension a little earlier this month after failing to get a summer move away from Merseyside.

But still, being left on the bench against the Canaries is a clear sign that Klopp – who also has Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip ahead of him – does not plan on using the big centre-back too much this season.

And former Liverpool man Gary Gillespie, who now works for the club’s online channel, believes that Phillips is probably looking at leaving the club long term.

He said on LFC TV: “He had a big part to play, but that’s the way football is. They went and bought a big centre-back in Konate and you have got four top-class individuals ahead of you. He probably knows that himself and he is probably looking elsewhere at this moment in time.”

Is he right?

In a word, absolutely.

Phillips started this season with a taste for Premier League football on a regular basis and once January comes around, he’ll almost certainly want to leave.

And that’s handy because Liverpool will also almost certainly be keen to cash in on him, which was probably the incentive regarding extending his contract.