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Kieran Phillips joins Walsall on Loan

12/07/2021

Huddersfield's first departure of the window has been confirmed as Kieran Phillips has joined Walsall on loan for the season. The 21-year-old moves to the East Midlands side who currently are in League 2.
Kieran who is from Huddersfield, was in the academy up to 13, before he moved to Merseyside and joined Everton. Phillips rejoined Town on an initial loan in January 2020, before joining on a permanent deal in the summer. His current deal expires at the end of the 2021/22 season although the club does hold the option to extend it by a further year.

Who is he?

Kieran was a regular in the Town B team and U19s sides last season while also making a handful of substitute first team appearances. Phillips has been a prolific striker through youth teams at both Everton and most recently Town. He is a quick and powerful striker using his strength to get past defenders, while also being an aerial threat standing at 6ft2. He scored 18 goals in 17 games for Everton in the U18 Premier League including a Hat-trick against Manchester City. He scored 7 goals in 10 games for the B team last season.
In terms of first-team football, Kieran has made 1 start in the FA Cup against Plymouth while making a further 10 substitute appearances in the Championship.
Town monitored the minutes of Phillips throughout last season, making sure there wasn't a significant workload as he has had a bad injury record, which is partly down to why he left Everton. He had 2 and 1/2 years out at Everton after a horror double knee fracture and Town have been making sure no repeat of it happening again. There is certainly a player in Phillips, but he just needs that development time that he missed out on due to injury.

What should Walsall fans expect?

A natural goalscorer who knows where the back of the net is. His explosive pace is quite unusual for a player of his height and he is decent in the air as well. If he is fit all season, he could score 15-20 goals for 'The Saddlers' next season. He is certainly is performing at the level needed for League 2, if not a bit higher, but he needs game time and experience. I think this move really will benefit him and Walsall.
I wouldn't be surprised if he is rested in a 3 game week (Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday) or is limited to 180 minutes in a 3 game week to protect him. This is something Town had to deal with Smith-Rowe when they had him.

Striker situation at Town

With Phillips departing albeit temporarily, it leaves Town with 3 senior strikers - Jordan Rhodes, Danny Ward and Fraizer Campbell with Kian Harratt as the B team striker. Town will continue to rely on Josh Koroma to score from the wide regions, but he too can play through the middle. I think Town will also loan out Harratt, so most likely another striker will be coming in. It might be another 'project player', but Town could be in the loan market for one.
I would expect Town to have Rhodes lead the line, with Campbell being that second striker and the player who Town bring on to see games out. Danny Ward might be used out wide and just behind Rhodes as he can hold the ball up and bring other players into the game better than Town's number 9.
My choice would be a pacy striker, who is 24/25 and has minimum 2/3 years of League 1 or higher experience playing week in week out. Tyler Walker at Coventry is someone who Town could look at, but with all of Town's first team strikers hitting 30 or above this season, Town really needs to inject some youth into their forward line.