Patrick Bamford – Leeds United players almost pushed Kalvin Phillips to join Manchester City
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford has revealed that fellow players were “almost pushing” Kalvin Phillips to join Manchester City.
The England international joined the reigning English champions in a deal worth £45million [BBC].
Talking about the saga which was finally concluded on June 4, 2022, Bamford was of the opinion Phillips has all the credentials to succeed at his new club.
“It said it all when Kalvin went straight from getting promoted to being in the England team and becoming a mainstay there,” he said as quoted by BBC. “He deserves this chance to fight for trophies on all fronts.
“None of us can begrudge him for going. As sad as it is, we were almost pushing him because he deserves it and it’s his time.”
Big miss
After a fantastic 2020-21 season where Leeds finished in the top half of the league table, the club had a rather difficult campaign last time around where they narrowly managed to escape relegation.
Many Leeds fans suggest that the injury to Phillips was one of the primary reasons why Leeds struggled throughout the campaign as England International had a hamstring injury during the season which kept him out of action for almost three months.
With him now having left the club on a permanent deal, it will be interesting to see how Leeds and in particular manager Jesse Marsch will cope without one of their star players in the upcoming season where they are likely to be involved in another relegation battle.
Phillips, who was promoted to Leeds’ senior team in the summer of 2015, left the club after making 232 appearances all competitions where he managed to score 13 goals and provided as many assists [Transfermarkt].
In other Leeds United news, the club can get their striker target for €25million as his side needs to move him on.