Nathaniel Phillips

For other people with similar names, see Nathan Phillips.

Nathaniel Phillips

Phillips with AFC Bournemouth in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Nathaniel Harry Phillips [1]
Date of birth	(1997-03-21) 21 March 1997 (age 25) [2]
Place of birth	Bolton, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.90 m) [2]
Position(s)	Centre-back [3]
Club information
Current team	AFC Bournemouth (on loan from Liverpool)
Number	2
Youth career
200?–2016	Bolton Wanderers
2016–2019	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–	Liverpool	17	(1)
2019–2020	→ VfB Stuttgart (loan)	19	(0)
2022–	→ AFC Bournemouth (loan)	17	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:57, 8 May 2022 (UTC)

Nathaniel Harry Phillips (born 21 March 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for AFC Bournemouth, on loan from Premier League club Liverpool.

Early life

Phillips was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester. ^[4]

Career

Early career

In 2016, Phillips left Bolton Wanderers' academy and trained at Huddersfield Town after he secured a scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. ^[5] Two days before his planned flight to the United States, he joined Liverpool's academy instead. ^{[6] [7]}

Liverpool

In the summer of 2018 Phillips started to train with Liverpool's first team and became a member of Jürgen Klopp's squad ^[8] but still played for the reserve team.

On 31 October 2020, Phillips made his league debut for the club, starting in Liverpool's 2–1 win over West Ham United. ^{[9] [10]} On 10 March 2021, Phillips made his Champions League debut, putting in a man of the match performance in a 2–0 win over RB Leipzig, and helping Liverpool advance to the quarter finals 4–0 on aggregate. ^[11]

Phillips scored his first goal for the club on 19 May 2021, scoring a headed goal and Liverpool's second of the game during a 3–0 away win over Burnley in the Premier League and with it, another man of the match award. ^[12] The following season, Phillips played in Liverpool's 2–1 win against AC Milan at the San Siro to complete the Champions League group stage with six wins. ^[13] Days later it was revealed Phillips suffered a fractured cheekbone during the game. ^[14] With game-time limited in the 2021-22 season, Nat Phillips admitted to being ready to leave the club in the January transfer window. ^[15]

Phillips training with VfB Stuttgart in 2019

VfB Stuttgart (loan)

In 2019, he moved to German second-division club VfB Stuttgart on loan for the season. ^{[16] [17]} He made his professional debut for Stuttgart in the first round of the 2019–20 DFB-Pokal, coming on as a half-time substitute for Holger Badstuber in the away match against 3. Liga club Hansa Rostock. ^[18] Phillips made his first appearance in the 2019–20 2. Bundesliga on 17 August 2019 against FC St. Pauli. ^[19] On 27 December 2019, Liverpool announced that Phillips would be recalled from his loan on 1 January 2020 because of a defender injury crisis at his parent club. ^[20] Twelve days later, after making his first team debut for Liverpool on 5 January 2020 in an FA Cup third round match against Everton, he was loaned back to VfB Stuttgart for the remainder of the 2019–20 season. ^{[21] [22]}

AFC Bournemouth (loan)

On 31 January 2022, he joined AFC Bournemouth on loan until the end of the season. ^[23] Regarding the move, Klopp commented that "he would have loved to have kept him [at Liverpool]" and that he was "incredibly reliable [and a] great figure here at the training ground". ^[24] He made his debut for the club in the FA Cup, 0–1 loss to non-league side Boreham Wood. ^[25] Phillips made his league debut for the club, and his first appearance in the Championship, in a 3–1 victory against Birmingham City. ^[26]

Personal life

Nathaniel is the son of former footballer Jimmy Phillips and played under his management in the Bolton Wanderers academy. ^[27]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 7 May 2022 ^[28]

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Liverpool	2019–20	Premier League	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2020–21	Premier League	17	1	0	0	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 1]	0	0	0	20	1
	2021–22	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	—		3	0
	Total		17	1	1	0	1	0	5	0	0	0	24	1
VfB Stuttgart (loan)	2019–20	2. Bundesliga	19	0	3	0	—		—		—		22	0
Liverpool U21	2021–22	—			—		—		—		1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	1	0
Bournemouth (loan)	2021–22	Championship	17	0	1	0	—		—		0	0	18	0
Career total			53	1	5	0	1	0	5	0	1	0	65	1

1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
2. Appearances in EFL Trophy

References

1. "Premier League clubs publish 2019/20 retained lists". Premier League. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
2. "Nathaniel Phillips: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
3. "Nathaniel Phillips: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
4. "Nathaniel Phillips". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
5. "Phillips turns down U.S. college scholarship for shot with Liverpool". ESPN. 12 March 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
6. "How Liverpool youngster came back from the brink to seal dream move to Reds". Liverpool Echo. 12 March 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
7. "Bolton Wanderers Youngster Nat Phillips Joins Liverpool". The Lion Of Vienna Suite. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
8. "Liverpool's 'hidden' pre-season star". Daily Mirror. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
9. "Liverpool go top after Jota winner". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
10. "Who is Phillips, Liverpool's man thrown in the deep end?" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
11. "Liverpool cruise into quarters as Sadio Mané and Salah cut down Leipzig again". Guardian. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
12. "Liverpool into top four after Burnley win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
13. "Liverpool beat Milan for perfect group stage record". BBC. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
14. "Nat Phillips set for spell out with cheekbone fracture". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
15. "Nat Phillips reveals he wants to leave Liverpool in January due to a lack of game time". Sky Sports. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
16. "Nathaniel Phillips signs new Liverpool contract and joins Stuttgart on loan". Liverpool FC. 7 August 2019.
17. "VfB sign Liverpool defender Phillips". vfb.de. VfB Stuttgart. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
18. "Hansa Rostock – VfB Stuttgart 0:1 (DFB-Pokal 2019/2020, 1. Round)". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
19. "VfB Stuttgart – FC St. Pauli 2:1". dfb.de. German Football Association. 17 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
20. "Nat Phillips returns from Stuttgart loan". Liverpool FC. 27 December 2019.
21. "Nathaniel Phillips returns to Stuttgart on loan". Liverpool FC. 13 January 2020.
22. "Reds were 'sensationally good' - Klopp" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
23. "AFC BOURNEMOUTH COMPLETE SIGNING OF NAT PHILLIPS". AFC Bournemouth. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
24. "Jurgen Klopp: I would've loved to have kept Nat Phillips". Daily Echo. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
25. "AFC Bournemouth 0-1 Boreham Wood". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
26. "AFC Bournemouth 3-1 Birmingham City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
27. "Decade XI: Remembering those we never saw". 17 December 2019.
28. "N. Phillips". Soccerway. Retrieved 5 January 2020.

External links

• Profile at the Liverpool F.C. website
• Nathaniel Phillips – UEFA competition record ( archive )