NewsWhy Nat Phillips isn't ruling out more Cruyff turns during Bournemouth loan

The centre-half has joined the Championship outfit on loan for the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign, with the Cherries currently sitting third in the standings.

Phillips has fully recovered from a fractured cheekbone suffered during Liverpool's Champions League win at AC Milan in December – a game which saw the No.47 perform a spectacular Cruyff turn inside his own penalty area.

"I'd probably say I have been dining out on it!" Phillips said of the piece of skill to afcbTV. "I've had a lot of compliments over it and obviously it got quite a bit of attention, so that was nice.

"I can't promise that I'll be doing it for the Cherries! But if it's an occasion where it's necessary, I can't rule it out.

"The cheekbone's all fine now. It was probably only sore for one week after the collision but because the bone had broken, they had to give it enough time to heal. That time has passed now and I've not had any issues.

"Interest had been growing throughout the window and it was an option that I was really excited about because of the club's ambition, and I've heard a lot of good things about the club.

"So I'm very excited to be here and looking forward to getting started."

Having helped the Reds secure a third-placed finish with his displays at the end of 2020-21, Phillips is now hoping to play his part in a successful season for Scott Parker's side.

On the squad's targets, he continued: "Promotion – I think it's that simple really. The club's got a clear goal.

"All players are obviously wanting to play in the Premier League, and promotion is the way to do that.

"I think we've all got that clear common goal of achieving promotion and we'll all be doing everything we can to make sure we achieve that.

"Probably the most important thing I felt throughout last season is I saw an improvement as the season went on and as I built up the games.

"So that's obviously something I'm looking to continue after a period where I've not played a great deal of football.

"I want to get back to playing games again and continue to develop and improve and bring as much as I can to the team and the club."