Manchester Utd plotting £60m Phillips capture - Marching On Together 28/9/21
The Daily Star are reporting (so it must be true) that Manchester United have lost interest in West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, in favour of England teammate Kalvin Phillips. Bringing a top drawer defensive midfielder is high on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's wish list, but they believe West Ham's valuation of 90m is too high, and have turned their attention across the Pennines! They estimate a fee between 50m - 60m would be sufficient to lure the 25yo to Old Trafford.
The Yorkshire Pirlo came close to leaving Elland Road in the
Summer of 2019, in favour of Aston Villa. Only a timely intervention from
Victor Orta, and wise words from his late grandmother, spared Leeds heartache.
Later that Summer, Phillips signed a new and improved four year contract that
expires in the Summer of 2024.
Having not strengthened sufficiently in the Summer, many
questions have been raised about their lack of ambition. Whilst I'm sure all
Leeds fans are grateful for what Radrizzzani has done for the club, Leeds
cannot expect to keep their prized assets unless they can demonstrate that they
are moving forward. Survival is not enough!
Leeds need five or six players in January
Former player, now pundit Frank McAvennie believes Leeds
need to invest in five or six new players in the January transfer window if
they want to continue with their intense playing style. The 61yo former West
Ham and Scotland hitman accepts that whilst Bielsa will not change his playing
style, the squad are going to be more susceptible to injury. According to
McAvennie...
Leeds play with such a high tempo. It’s so intense, if you
play like that, there will be injuries. They haven’t prepared for that. “They
aren’t like Manchester City, they don’t have two different starting sides.
There’s nothing Bielsa can do about that. He won’t change his style for anyone.
They have to go out in January and buy five or six, I’m not joking. If they
want to keep playing like that, with players flying into tackles, people will
get injured.
