da bet nacional： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
da luck： Nice to talk about someone different for a change.
Whilst most of the discussion around Leeds United following their draw with Preston North End continues to be the ongoing battle between Eddie Nketiah and Patrick Bamford over who should lead the line, one player has caught the eye of former Premier League forward Clinton Morrison.
Kalvin Phillips is an incredibly popular figure, but now it seems as if he’s starting to get recognition from those outside the club.
What’s been said?
Speaking on Gillette Soccer Special (22/10 from 9pm), Morrison said that Leeds will struggle to keep hold of the local lad if this season doesn’t end in promotion:
This came in the midst of Leeds’ late 1-1 draw against Preston on Tuesday evening.
“He is a player and a half. He’s dominated this game. He is a top, top player. If Leeds don’t get promoted this season then that young player will be gone. He has dominated the midfield. He cleans up things and he always looks to pass forward.”
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Are plans already in place?
Reports were rife during the summer that he could leave, with clubs like Spurs, Aston Villa and Newcastle United all interested at some stage, and Leeds were even forced to turn down a £27m offer from one of them in order to keep a promise to Bielsa that he wasn’t to be sold.
Leeds probably know they can’t hold out forever, and they’ve taken precautions to compensate for his potential departure.
It’s a well-known ploy by football clubs to give players longer contracts to increase their value, and with Phillips signing a five-year deal back in September, they may have done this to act as a bit of a ‘safety net’ in case they didn’t go up this season.
And if he was worth more than £27m to them this summer, they should be able to command a much higher fee in the summer of 2020 and use that to rebuild the squad.
But the possible windfall they get from an exit would be mere peanuts compared to the money they’d receive from being in the Premier League.
So whilst it is a safety net, it will be something that they probably don’t want to end up using.