Manchester City are on the verge of signing Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
That’s according to The Athletic, who claim the England international is set to join Pep Guardiola’s squad, as a replacement for Fernandinho.
David Ornstein reports that City have reached an agreement with Leeds to sign Phillips for £42m plus £3m in bonuses.
Earlier this summer, the Manchester Evening News went big with their story on United’s attempts to sign the 26-year-old defensive midfielder, but it turns out Phillips decided against moving to Old Trafford because of his ties with Leeds.
It’s annoying because I’d argue Phillips is exactly the type of player we should be trying to sign. There’s not many of them around who you’d consider good enough to play for a top side in the Premier League.
Moreover, there’s been a genuine lack of defensive midfielders linked with a move to United this summer.
Phillips has two years left on his contract at Leeds.
Footballer turned pundit Tony Cascarino says Phillips would have represented a smart signing for United. He told talkSPORT, as quoted by The Metro: “I don’t know why Man United haven’t made a move for Kalvin Phillips. Now they might say well we tried to and he’d already decided he was going to City.
“But he is exactly what United need for me. He might not have wanted to go there and that might have been the reason but there wasn’t seemingly any competition from a club who I think solely need that type of player.
“I think it’s a huge miss in their team. A ball winning player that can keep it and let other players do their thing. He does that as well as anybody.”
If that useless toe rag Grealish cost 100M.
Philips is worth double.
Daylight robbery