Jack Grealish £100m Man City move done by mooted new agent of Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips
The potential new agent of Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips negotiated Jack Grealish’s £100million move to Manchester City last year, The Athletic reports.
With transfer speculation surrounding the Whites midfielder, the agent change, which is not yet confirmed, might suggest he is gearing up for a major move, but that is reportedly not necessarily the case.
Manchester United and Aston Villa have been the two most obvious candidates to make a serious run at the England midfielder, with Villa ready to offer £60million (Telegraph), and Old Trafford seeing him as an affordable alternative to Declan Rice in their planned midfield overhaul (Times).
Phil Hay and Laurie Whitwell write in The Athletic today (27 April): “Phillips’ contract with Palm Sports Management is set to expire this summer, however, and The Athletic has been told that Stellar Group, one of football’s biggest agencies, is a leading contender to take him on. The subject is described as being still up in the air.
“Stellar was responsible for negotiating Jack Grealish’s £100 million transfer from Aston Villa to Manchester City last summer but sources say Phillips’ potential switch of agents should not be seen as a prelude to him leaving Leeds.
“It is very possible that it will be a precursor to him signing a new deal, provided Leeds are not relegated next month.”
Pay day
Phillips is clearly getting ready for something and whatever it is will no doubt net the agent a hefty fee.
Moving from a local agency, with former player Kevin Sharp a key figure, to one of the game’s leading agencies is sure to result in a less team-friendly deal if he is to stay.
Although Hay and Whitwell’s report notes that he is one of the higher earners at the club, he is relatively underpaid by the standards of a key Premier League player who is an established starter for England, so he likely deserves a significant pay-rise.
The Daily Mail recently claimed he was on £25,000-a-week, which would be far too low for a player of his stature, while The Mirror suggested earlier in the season it was more like double that figure.
Either way, he would be in line for a major increase if he were to move to either Old Trafford or Villa Park, with Steven Gerrard’s side reportedly ready to offer an “enormous” raise in pay (Times).
If Phillips does change agent, it would suggest in the worst-case scenario the club would at least receive maximum value in a transfer, but fans will certainly hope it is the best-case scenario of just providing maximum value for the player to stay at Elland Road.
In other Leeds United news, one former White has raved about what a current one has done in the last two games.