Nathaniel Harry Phillips (born 21 March 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Liverpool.
![]() Phillips with VfB Stuttgart in 2019 | |||
Personal information | |||
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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 | Liverpool | ||
Number | 47 | ||
Youth career | |||
200?–2016 | Bolton Wanderers | ||
2016–2019 | Liverpool | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2019– | Liverpool | 18 | (1) |
2019–2020 | → VfB Stuttgart (loan) | 19 | (0) |
2022 | → AFC Bournemouth (loan) | 17 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:01, 15 August 2022 (UTC) |
Phillips was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester.[4]
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]
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.
In 2019, he moved to German second-division club VfB Stuttgart on loan for the season.[9][10] 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.[11] Phillips made his first appearance in the 2019–20 2. Bundesliga on 17 August 2019 against FC St. Pauli.[12] 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.[13] 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.[14][15]
On 31 October 2020, Phillips made his league debut for the club, starting in Liverpool's 2–1 win over West Ham United.[16][17] 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.[18]
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.[19] 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.[20] Days later it was revealed Phillips suffered a fractured cheekbone during the game.[21] With game-time limited in the 2021-22 season, Nat Phillips admitted to being ready to leave the club in the January transfer window.[22]
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]
Nathaniel is the son of former footballer Jimmy Phillips and played under his management in the Bolton Wanderers academy.[27]
Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
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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 | ||
2022–23 | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 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 | |||||
AFC Bournemouth (loan) | 2021–22 | Championship | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
Career total | 54 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 66 | 1 |
Klopp also has 23-year-old Nathaniel Phillips, who helped Stuttgart gain promotion back to the Bundesliga last season
Liverpool F.C. – current squad | |
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