Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has apologised to Kalvin Phillips for branding the England international overweight last season.
Phillips is currently in the spotlight having endured a nightmare start to life on loan at West Ham following his move to the London Stadium in January.
The midfielder received a red card on Saturday as his side lost 2-0 to Nottingham Forest, having previously given the ball away during a defeat to Bournemouth earlier in the month.
Phillips struggled throughout his time at City and was once branded 'overweight' by Guardiola.
Pep Guardiola has apologised to Kalvin Phillips ahead of Man City's Premier League clash with Brentford on Tuesday night
PA
The midfielder recently said that impacted his state of mind and that his mother, Lindsay, had stopped attending their matches.
Phillips also believed there are 'different ways to go about things', having disagreed with Guardiola's assessment.
And the Spaniard has now apologised to the 28-year-old.
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Guardiola said ahead of his side's Premier League showdown with Brentford this evening. "[Apologising] once in eight years is not bad.
"But I'm so sorry. I apologise to him. I do apologise. I'm so sorry."
Big things were expected from Phillips when he moved to the Etihad Stadium back in the summer transfer window of 2022.
But with Rodri ahead of him in Guardiola's pecking order, the former Leeds star was never able to make his mark.
It seems unfeasible Phillips will ever get a second chance in Manchester, with City likely to cash in on the England star this summer.
Phillips said last year he was unaware of Guardiola's comments about his weight until he'd returned to training.
But that's something the City boss strongly denies.
"Oh no I spoke about that," Guardiola added.
When asked if they'd spoken, he continued: "Before. I spoke to him. I never before said something here [before I] speak with the players in that case."
While Guardiola has apologised, however, Phillips did admit the City boss was 'right' about his weight issues.
Speaking earlier this month, he said: "When Pep came out and said I was overweight, he was right to do so but there are different ways to go about it.
"I did not disagree with him but obviously it took a big knock on my confidence and how I felt at City I would probably say that.
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Kalvin Phillips struggled while playing under Pep Guardiola at Man City
PA
"And my family were not happy about it, either. Especially my mum."
He added: "People can say overweight - overweight for some people is like 10kg. I was probably 1.5kg over my weight target.
"I think obviously Pep was frustrated that I didn't come back into training early but it was just miscommunication between the people that worked at City and myself.
"I got told to be back on a certain date and I was always going to go back earlier than that date anyway because I hadn't played that much for England during the tournament [at the World Cup in Qatar].
"I'd just recovered from my shoulder injury so Pep wanted me to come in the day after we finished the tournament so I could be involved in the friendlies.
Kalvin Phillips has experienced a nightmare start to life at West Ham following his loan move from Man City in January
PA
"I never got that information because if he asked me to have been there, I would have been there."
Phillips won't be involved when West Ham face Brentford next Monday night.
And whether City beat Thomas Frank's side after a 1-1 draw against Chelsea last time out remains to be seen.
