Manchester City have pulled another ace in the transfer market by agreeing on a deal to sign Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips, reports Sky Sports.
The report claims: “Manchester City have agreed a deal with Leeds to sign midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
“The fee is in the region of £45m to £50m for the 26-year-old, who came through the youth academy at Leeds.”
David Ornstein has shed further light on this transfer in his Athletic piece saying that the deal is for a total fee of £50m, which is divided into £42m + £3m along with Darko Gyabi joining Leeds United separately for a £5m fee.
.🚨 Man City have agreed a deal with Leeds for Kalvin Phillips 🔵✍️
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) June 24, 2022
Is Kalvin Phillips a necessary signing for Manchester City?
At the start of the transfer window, several major Premier League clubs were interested in signing Kalvin Phillips but in the end, the England international has chosen to join the reigning league champions.
Fernandinho has returned to Brazil so signing a new defensive midfielder has been on Man City’s agenda this summer and they have just managed to bag one of the best players in that role.
Rodri has been brilliant for Man City but he will now have competition for his place in the first XI because Kalvin Phillips is not joining City to be a benchwarmer.
The Leeds man along with Declan Rice was one of the key reasons why England had reached the EURO final and he will have every intention of becoming the first-choice defensive midfielder at the Etihad Stadium.
However, Man City are favourites in whichever tournament they play so Kalvin Phillips will get an abundance of game time to prove his worth.
Last season, Rodri played in 46 games across all competitions and even though the 37-year-old Fernandinho was the backup, the Brazilian still played 1761 minutes across 33 games.
This basically means Kalvin Phillips will get a lot of chances to with the faith of his new manager at Manchester City and if he is good enough then Guardiola will not shy away from pushing him up the pecking order, ahead of Rodri.
