Aston Villa have emerged as frontrunners to sign Kalvin Phillips this summer and are ready to pay a £60 million transfer fee, plus an enormous salary, to prise the England midfielder away from Leeds United.
The Midlands side have identified the 26-year-old as a key target in their continuing efforts to upgrade their squad to a level to consistently challenge for a place in the top six of the Premier League.
They are prepared to offer Phillips a package worth in the region of £10 million a year to leave his boyhood club and are thought to be ahead of rival suitors Newcastle United and West Ham United in the scramble to attract the player.
Phillips’ contract at Elland Road expires in 2024 and he may yet stay at Leeds, whose new manager Jesse Marsch declared last week he “would love to keep” the player. Rather than decide on his future, Phillips has been focusing on returning to fitness, having been out of action with a hamstring injury since December 5.
He was an unused substitute in Leeds’ remarkable comeback 3-2 victory away to Wolves on Friday that left the club seven points clear of the relegation zone. Phillips is also admired at Old Trafford but a move there is regarded as almost impossible given the deep antipathy between Manchester United and Leeds.
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The midfielder has the personality and drive that the Villa manager Steven Gerrard is keen on. Gerrard bemoaned a lack of those qualities following his side’s 1-0 defeat at home by Arsenal yesterday.
Leeds have identified several targets, including Swansea City’s impressive former England Under-20 midfielder, Flynn Downes, as potential replacements for Phillips should he move on after 12 years at the club.
