Antonio Conte is a big fan of Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips, according to The Telegraph, but it remains to be seen if Tottenham Hotspur will pay up to £60 million for the Premier League maestro.
If Conte wants to make a marquee signing such as this – one that could replace Tanguy Ndombele as the most expensive signing in Spurs’ history – he will probably have little choice but to trim the fat from a rather bloated squad first.
Ndombele is just one of many who could be farmed out, raising funds for new arrivals.
The same goes for Giovanni Lo Celso, despite his excellent form on loan at Villarreal, Steven Bergwijn, Lucas Moura and the seldom-seen Joe Rodon.
The Times claimed last month that Aston Villa and West Ham United are also big fans of Phillips. Leeds will demand a huge fee for their homegrown hero, however.
What’s more, Phillips’ Yorkshire roots adds another degree of difficulty to negotiations.
It’s hard to imagine Phillips leaving Leeds for an Aston Villa side one place and three points above them in the Premier League table. The phrase ‘sideways step’ comes to mind, despite Villa’s undoubted ambition.
Will Tottenham move for Kalvin Phillips?
Spurs, however, have made their home on an altogether different rung of the footballing ladder. Even if they have fallen some way since their Champions League final appearance in 2019.
Conte – understood to be an admirer of Phillips – gives Tottenham the sort of pulling power his predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo can only dream of.
A case in point; Both Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski jumped at the chance to swap Serie A giants Juventus for Spurs in January.
Phillips would surely only leave his boyhood club for a side capable of offering him regular European football (preferably Champions League) and the chance to take his game to an all-new level under a truly world-leading coach. Tottenham, then, may tick a couple of those boxes.
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Furthermore, a move to North London would see Phillips reunite with a number of England team-mates, including Three Lions skipper Harry Kane.
“He’s done really well,” Kane said on Gary Neville’s The Overlap series last year. “Great lad. Works really hard.”
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