Kalvin Phillips financial sacrifice is the new key reckoning for Leeds United dream return after Wembley — YEP 28/5/24

By Joe Donnohue

Kalvin Phillips was mobbed by fans on Olympic Way after Leeds United's play-off final defeat by Southampton at Wembley Stadium last weekend.

If it didn't involve leaving tens of millions of pounds on the table, Kalvin Phillips to Leeds United, whether on loan or permanently, is the transfer that would make most sense this summer.

The defensive midfielder revered in West Yorkshire has had a difficult time of it since departing Elland Road two summers ago in a £42 million transfer to Manchester City. Phillips has hardly featured under Citizens boss Pep Guardiola, while his attempt to play his way back into the England reckoning ahead of Euro 2024 by going on loan to West Ham United, backfired.

While City were celebrating their Premier League victory in a characteristic Manchester downpour on board an open-top bus, Phillips was leaving Wembley, that characteristic grin plastered across his face, surrounded by those whose unconditional support had propelled him to within a whisker of international glory three years ago at the European Championships.

It was raining in North London, too - pictures and videos of the encounter between the 28-year-old and fans resembled something closer to a populist leader of a developing nation mobbed following an election victory, than a former player coming to watch his old side. No doubt, Phillips will have been encouraged, urged, even instructed by those in the vicinity, to come home.

A sensational return to Elland Road this summer, on one hand, makes a lot of sense. It is his club, his people, where he played the best football of his career, a career which has been derailed of late. Premier League sides will be reluctant to gamble on the 28-year-old, whose City contract means those who could match his Etihad pay-packet, might think twice about doing so.

Then, there is the fact he has featured sporadically over the course of two consecutive seasons. When he did play for the Hammers, performances were lacking, so even those with residency in the bottom half of the top flight may deem a loan or permanent move not quite value-for-money.

Modern football is where sentiment goes to die, in most cases nowadays. A Leeds homecoming could very possibly have been on the cards this summer, had the team been victorious at Wembley. It would have been very easy to see the player accepting a trimmed wage, compared to his City contract at least, to come back and play Premier League football for his team, simultaneously basking in the adoration of a loyal supporter base and getting his career back on track.

Now Leeds will remain in the Championship, for at least one more season, the possibility of Phillips' return has been diminished by a sizeable degree. To make it happen, Leeds would need to commit serious resources - in Championship terms - to a player whose recent displays hardly warrant a multi-million pound contract. Equally, Leeds' best offer would fall so far short of Phillips' current deal which has four years left to run, and the offers of top flight clubs abroad, that returning to Leeds over the alternatives available to him would be a financial sacrifice unlike many others witnessed in top level football.

That said, Daniel Farke has reiterated on more than one occasion his squad only has one other 'deep six' option in Ilia Gruev when Ethan Ampadu is required to play centre-half. Meanwhile, the team has lacked not only Championship experience and leaders, but on-field promotion-winning pedigree, all of which Phillips has in abundance.

Returning to LS11 in any guise would be a risk - why should any player walk away from the contract of a lifetime as one of English football's best-paid players? Seeing out his City deal is a possibility, but he's desperately unlikely to play for the club again in any meaningful capacity. Then again, he would be able to set up his extended family and future generations for life by staying put.

The shared feeling between Phillips, the club and Leeds fans is strong, but is it greater than the lure of multi-generational wealth and his likely belief that he can still mix it at the top level in his prime years, if given the opportunity? Probably not.

Stranger things have happened and a fabled homecoming would be one for the ages, an international story, even a fairytale to some but decidedly unlikely, as sour a reality that is to stomach. The coming weeks and months will be instructive, not just on Phillips' own future, but that of Leeds United, too.