Nat Phillips has left Liverpool on another season-long loan, joining Derby in the Championship after a failed attempt to sell the long-serving centre-back.
Phillips was subject of a £4 million bid from Turkish side Trabzonspor earlier in the summer, only for the Reds to turn that down and quote an £8 million price tag.
But though the 27-year-old was made available throughout the transfer window, Liverpool struggled to attract interest in a permanent deal.
That has led to a deadline-day loan to Derby, which will be Phillips’ fifth temporary move away from Anfield.
He has previously taken in spells with Stuttgart, Bournemouth, Celtic and Cardiff, with the latter, most recent, move bringing 18 appearances in the Championship.
Now he will look to improve on that with a full campaign with Paul Warne’s side, with it made clear that he has no future under Arne Slot at Liverpool.
Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Jarell Quansah are Slot’s primary options at centre-back, while Joe Gomez is expected to be considered there after a brief flirtation with a summer transfer.
The Reds sold Sepp van den Berg to Brentford in a deal worth up to £25 million earlier in the window, leaving 17-year-old Amara Nallo as the next in line.
Phillips joined Liverpool from Bolton in 2016 and has gone on to play a valuable role at first-team level, most notably in an emergency centre-back pairing with youngster Rhys Williams in the 2020/21 season.
But just like Williams, who this summer joined Morecambe on loan in League Two, his future will be served away from Merseyside.
Good luck, Nat!
