Leeds United didn’t make too many signings in the summer, but one of their primary goals in the transfer window was to keep hold of Kalvin Phillips and get him on a new contract. The midfielder signed a new deal which will keep him at Elland Road until 2024.
Whelan gives an update on Phillips’ contract
However, given his talent and abilities, if Leeds United fail to win promotion this season, then there is an excellent chance that he will leave Elland Road even though the 23-year-old is on a long term deal. Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan recently revealed that Phillips has a release clause in his contract which can be triggered if the Whites fail to move up a division after the summer of 2020.
Whelan speaking to Football Insider revealed, ”Kalvin’s contract is based on promotion. He has a release clause allowing him to go for a set price – more than £20million – if we don’t go up.”
Why shouldn’t this be surprising?
Something like this shouldn’t come as a surprise as Phillips is too good a player to be playing in the Championship for long. It’s true that he has come from Leeds’ academy and is a local lad, but if the midfielder has aspirations to play among the best, then he will have to move away from the Championship.
Phillips has been dubbed as the Yorkshire Pirlo by the Elland Road faithful because of the ease with which he orchestrates the game from deep areas. He is also a combative midfielder as we often see him go into and win 50-50 duels. His versatility to play as a centre back is also going to come in handy in a long season, and the English midfielder is undoubtedly one of the first names on the team sheet for United.
The Whites have had a stop-start kind of a season so far, but they are very much in the mix for the direct promotion spots as they are two points behind table-toppers West Brom at the moment. United did well to keep hold of Phillips this summer as Aston Villa were interested in him. However, the Whites stuck to their guns and didn’t budge from their £30m price tag.
Even though he has signed a new contract, there is no guarantee that the English midfielder will stay at Elland Road for long. After Whelan’s update, it is becoming more and more apparent that the only way Leeds can keep their talented midfielder is by going up to the Premier League by next season.
