Manchester City beat Aston Villa for Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips – report
Manchester City have reportedly beaten Aston Villa for Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips after agreeing a fee with them.
According to the Telegraph, the Citizens are poised to sign them for a fee which could rise up to £45million.
Villa and Manchester United were keen on signing the 26-year-old as well but the Premier League champions stole a march on them and are now close to making a permanent move.
Never going to happen
Somebody in the Villa hierarchy dreamed that they could secure the services of Phillips this summer but it was always going to be a long shot.
Teams like PSG and City were linked with him and they can offer five times more in wages than the Villians can to the player.
Apart from that, they also give him the chance of playing in the Champions League – something that could take a few more years to happen at Villa.
Aston Villa do not even need to sign more midfielders this summer and it would have been a major dilemma for Steven Gerrard if he had Phillips in the squad as well.
The boss would surely want more signings in defence and in the final third as midfield seems to be sorted for the time being unless there are any major exits.
Hopefully, the club hierarchy priorities on positions of need rather than just chasing big names and failing to sign them.
In other Aston Villa news, manager Steven Gerrard is very keen to bring Liverpool defender Joe Gomez to the club.