He won the Champions League, his father's in jail, and now he's Liverpool's star signing

While he has been linked with Liverpool in recent hours due to Fabinho's imminent departure to Arabia, Kalvin Phillips' childhood is full of episodes no child is prepared for. The Manchester City player, this season's Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League winner, got by with the rest of his family thanks to the dedication of his mother, Lindsay Crosby. She single-handedly raised four children while her husband was in jail.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, the England international has spoken candidly about his father's story, revealing what their relationship is like. Jamaican-born Mark is serving a 12-year sentence for violence and drug abuse in Wealstun Prison, a short distance from the training ground of Leeds United, the team Phillips played for before joining City.

A couple of months ago, Kalvin Phillips visited his father in prison to visit his father after six years without seeing him. "It was literally like I'd never been away from him, to be honest. He looked a bit older and stuff, but he was like the last time I saw him. We laughed, we talked about football and he told me he was proud of me," he said.

Shocking story

His father's time in prison has, according to Kalvin Phillips, triggered a sense of guilt for not being with his family during his childhood. "I always tell him if he needs to call, to call. He's one of those people who gets something in his head, like he's interrupting, and he backs off like he's doing something wrong." Since their meeting two months ago, there has been no further phone contact between the two. "We would talk about how he wouldn't call me for two or three months, but he hasn't called since," she laments. Even so, he maintains that he is always open to his father's needs and that he would love "for him to be outside and in a safe house".