Should Manchester United Be Looking At Kalvin Phillips ahead Of The Summer Transfer Window?

It is no secret that Manchester United will be looking to bolster their ranks heading into next season, and now with Erik Ten Hag in place as first team manager, the Red Devils will begin their searching for improvements.

Midfield is going to be the area of reinforcement this summer, with the likes of Paul Pogba and Juan Mata leaving the club on free transfers. Manchester United needed to recruit a defensive midfielder last year, but decided to invest elsewhere and have consequently left the team exposed this season.

It will not just be a defensive midfielder that Ten Hag will look to bring in, but also a very energetic central player that can cover copious amounts of ground. The Dutchman likes to play a possession-based, high-pressing game and will need specialists in the engine room to achieve this.

One player that Manchester United are routinely monitoring and tentatively enquiring about is Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips. It is known that the Yorkshire club are not going to part ways with the 26 year old for less than £50 million, but he is seen as a more realistic player to come in this summer than West Ham United’s Declan Rice.

Rice, who has a meteoric rise over the last few seasons, has become an integral part of Gareth Southgate’s England side as well as being a stand-in captain for the Hammers.

David Moyes, West Ham’s first team manager, has openly stated on numerous occasions that is he not for sale this summer, even if the player has rejected three contract offers in the past 12 months. It is said that any transfer involving Rice would be around the £100 million mark with Chelsea lined up as the favourites.

While Phillips had a terrific 2020/21 campaign with Leeds United, his stock really rose to new levels under Southgate in the European Championship last summer. Phillips, who partnered Rice in midfield throughout the tournament, delivered man-of-the-match displays and showed his level on an international stage.

After player under Marcelo Bielsa for the best part of three-and-a-half years, Phillips has the perfect conditioning that Ten Hag and Ralf Rangnick will be looking for. When fit, Phillips is among the highest output in ground covered across a game, which is exactly what Manchester United are missing in midfield.

Manchester United will bring in a variety of different players this summer, but need to be careful that deals are not taking a major portion of the transfer window to conclude. Ten Hag will officially join the club on July 1 and has been known to want to have his squad assembled for when pre-season begins.

There might well be easier targets out there, such as Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves or RasenBallsport Leipzig’s Konrad Laimer, and so the Red Devils will need to ponder very carefully how deep in the waters they get with arranging a transfer for Phillips.

The difficulty Manchester United might have with Phillips is his devotion and love for current club Leeds. Which, in turn, means he is fully aware of the bitter rivalry between the two teams that has gone back decades.

Alan Smith thought the same, but the striker still made the move from Leeds to Manchester in 2004 when push came to shove. Whether Phillips will do the same remains to be seen, but it is clear that there is a vacancy at Old Trafford for a player of his quality.