Nat Phillips

Derby County added to their defensive options with the signing of Liverpool’s Nat Phillips on Transfer Deadline Day in August 2024.

Phillips joined the Rams on a season-long loan deal from the Premier League outfit.

The towering centre-back has played 29 times for Liverpool’s first team in recent years.

Phillips initially came through the youth ranks at Bolton Wanderers before he made the move to Liverpool in 2016 following a successful trial spell.

He went on to be a key part of the Reds’ youth set-up and gained experience at the heart of their Under-21s backline in Premier League 2 across the 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons.

Phillips impressed then-Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp on a number of pre-season training camps and signed a new contract with the Reds ahead of the 2019/20 season.

He moved out on loan to gain match experience on a season-long loan deal at German second-tier side VfB Stuttgart. The defender was briefly recalled by Liverpool midway through the campaign following an injury crisis and made his Reds bow in a Merseyside derby at Anfield against Everton.

After playing the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 win over the Toffees, Phillips returned to Stuttgart for the remainder of the 2019/20 season where, in total, he made 22 appearances.

The centre-back was back with Liverpool for the 2020/21 campaign and he played 20 times in all competitions, making his Premier League and UEFA Champions League debuts as well as scoring his first career goal in a 3-0 win over Burnley.

Phillips played three more times for the Reds in the first half of the 2021/22 campaign, before moving out on loan to Sky Bet Championship side AFC Bournemouth and he played 18 times in the second half of the season as the Cherries gained promotion to the Premier League.

He returned to Anfield for the 2022/23 campaign and played five times in all competitions, including being named in the starting line-up for the Reds’ Carabao Cup Round Three tie at Anfield against Derby.

Phillips headed back out on loan on two occasions during the 2023/24 season in search of more match minutes. The first half of the season was spent in Scotland with Celtic, where he played eight times as they went on to lift the Scottish Premiership title, ahead of an 18-game stint back in the Championship with Cardiff City.