Phillips joined the Cherries on loan at the end of January and they could now seek to make his move permanent.
Since joining Bournemouth at the end of January, Nat Phillips has played nine of ten games and quickly established himself as one half of manager Scott Parker’s first choice defensive pairing alongside Lloyd Kelly.
Bournemouth currently sit second in the Championship and look strong favourites to earn automatic promotion this season, which would mean a return to the Premier League for the team—and if Parker has his way, Phillips might well join them on that journey.
“Maybe, hopefully,” said Parker told Dorset Live when asked about the chances of turning Phillips’ loan into a permanent deal. “At this moment in time, that has not really been discussed [regarding] Nat or all the players who are on loan.
“He’s done very, very well since he’s come into the side. He’s an extremely bright lad. A very, very good professional. He is someone who’s engaged and wants to learn every day. He is invested in us and the team.”
After playing a key role in Liverpool’s top four push last season, Nat Phillips extended his stay with the Reds but with the arrival of Ibrahima Konate and a solid run of fitness for the centre halves ahead of him on the depth chart, minutes were hard to come by.
That resulted in the player choosing to go out on loan as the January transfer window neared its close, with Bournemouth offering a chance to play regularly for an upwardly mobile Championship side in the midst of a promotion push.
It’s difficult to see minutes being all that much easier to get on Merseyside next season, so if the Cherries do earn promotion and Phillips is comfortable there it’s easy to imagine a summer in which he makes a permanent switch.
