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da gbg bet： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
As Leeds saw Pontus Jansson and Kemar Roofe walk out of their doors in the summer, there would likely have been concerns surrounding Kalvin Phillips too.
The midfielder was at the centre of rife speculation during the transfer window as multiple clubs wanted to snap him up.
Aston Villa were sniffing around the 23-year-old but Leeds’ £30m valuation of him was clearly a sticking point.
However, that didn’t stop Phillips from courting interest from Wolves and Bournemouth too.
This was a player who was imperative to Leeds’ hopes last term, featuring 44 times so to eventually hold onto him was huge for their ambitions this season and for the club in general.
Things could be about to get a lot better, though.
Managing Director Angus Kinnear revealed on Wednesday night in an interview with West Yorkshire Daily on the BBC that the club was close to agreeing terms with Phillips on a new deal.
During the window, claims started to mount on potential contract negotiations but that now seems to have become a reality.
Considering how important he is, it won’t come cheap.
Football Insider disclosed that the deal could be as much as £40k a week in an overall contract worth £8m plus. It’s terms that would see him become the club’s joint-highest earner alongside Kiko Casilla and Patrick Bamford.
They also happen to be on £40k a week which means the total spend every seven days on the trio would be £120k.
For a club whose wages have been mounting under the ownership of Andrea Radrizzani, something that was admitted by Kinnear himself, it’s an expensive commitment.
But on this occasion Leeds are making a sensible decision. In fact, it would have been baffling if the Whites didn’t make an attempt to make him one of their highest earners.
Phillips is one of Leeds’ most consistent performers and the fact he’s won the highest number of tackles per game of anyone in the Championship tells the story.
To think he could be matching the wages of inconsistent figures like Bamford and Casilla makes perfect sense.
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The Spaniard always seems to have an error in him, something that was evident when he came charging out of his goal against Salford and also versus Derby in the playoffs.
Bamford is Leeds’ top scorer but he has had two matches this term where he’s been wasteful in front of goal.
He missed six changes against Wigan and then four versus Swansea. Per WhoScored, Phillips hasn’t dipped below a match rating of 7 this season.
For that reason alone, he deserves the reported £40k a week being thrown in his direction.
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