Kalvin Phillips has held “positive discussions” with Leeds United about a new and improved deal for the England midfielder, his agent has told i.
Phillips has enjoyed a stunning rise to prominence for club and country during the past 12 months and was recently voted England’s Player of the Year following his starring role for Gareth Southgate’s side at Euro 2020.
The 25-year-old, a boyhood Leeds supporter who was born and raised in the city, was this week linked with a move to bitter rivals Manchester United.
Yet Kevin Sharp, the former Leeds player who represents Phillips, said talks were underway about rewarding Marcelo Bielsa’s star man with a new contract to extend his stay at Elland Road.
Sharp told i: “I’ve had positive discussions with Leeds United throughout the summer on a new contract for Kalvin.
“Talks are ongoing and I can only see a positive outcome. Kalvin’s desire is to stay at Leeds United and there is a real willingness from all sides to make it happen.”
Earlier this summer, Sharp told i that he would not agitate for an improved deal for Phillips as the player was happy and settled at his hometown club.
But with interest from rival Premier League clubs and abroad, Leeds now look set to tie down their prized asset to a new long-term deal.
Phillips has won 17 caps since making his England debut last September and his reputation throughout Europe has soared.
Bielsa spoke of the importance of Phillips at his pre-match press conference on Thursday and, asked whether the player could leave, the Leeds head coach said: “That’s a question Kalvin needs to answer.
“Of course he’s a very valuable player. We have to adapt ourselves to how he feels belonging to Leeds.”
Phillips has often spoken about how close he is to his family and the relationship he enjoys with Bielsa has seen him thrive during the past three seasons.
It is understood a new deal at Leeds would put Phillips amongst the club’s highest earners.
Bielsa added: “I have seen in him the conduct I have very rarely seen in a player.
“In how football is right now, for a player to decline a team above the level where he is at, due to love of a club he is at, is not frequent.”
Bielsa acknowledged Phillips’ heart was in Leeds, saying: “I have the certainty Kalvin is going to endure decisions like this the rest of his life.
“When you go for the money, or for the evolution, you resolve a moment in your sporting career, but when you opt for affection of those of the people, you resolve in commas your life forever.
“When you’re loved where you’re from, the possibilities to be happy increase.”
Phillips spoke to i‘s chief football correspondent last month about his family ties in Leeds
With his dad, Mark, in and out of prison when Phillips was younger and his mum, Lindsay, working two jobs to support the family, often sleeping on the sofa so that Phillips, his brother and two sisters always had a bed, sometimes going without meals, Granny Val was always there.
“Growing up with her she helped our family out and my mum out a lot of times,” Phillips says. “If my mum was at work or busy we’d go to my gran’s and stay there over the weekend. Whenever my mum was working my gran would be there to help us out.”
Always a shoulder to lean on, but also ready to offer a stern word to make sure he kept in line. “She’s always been the person if I’ve been arguing with my brother or sister or anybody she’s said, Here, listen, don’t let your head get too big for your boots. She’s always been the one to knock me down if I’ve ever been getting too big for myself.
“She’s always been there to humble me and make sure I don’t become a person I’m not. That’s a major thing in how our family works: we’re very humble people, very hardworking people, the more people that meet us, the more people realise how much gran had a big effect on our family.”
Perhaps one of Granny Val’s best pieces of advice was to stay at Leeds. “She was definitely the reason why I would’ve never gone to Villa. She didn’t want me to. I always knew that whatever my mum and my gran wanted me to do I’d end up doing that.
“She’s a major figure in our family so I knew that what she was telling me to do was the right decision and it turned out to be the right decision, even now. Without some of those decisions she’s told me to take I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2YdKZmn
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