Luke Ayling told the Saturday Social on Sky Sports that his Leeds United teammate, Kalvin Phillips, has ‘everything’ to his game.
When Ayling first signed for Leeds in 2016, Phillips was coming through the ranks at Elland Road as a highly-rated teenager.
At the time, he was a marauding number ten who liked to make those forward runs and dictate play in the attacking third.
But as Ayling shared, it all changed for the now ‘slimmed down’ Leeds player when Marcelo Bielsa walked through the doors.
“He can dive into a few tackles, cannot he,” said Ayling. “When I first come five years ago, Kalvin was a number ten and a bit of a number eight. Box to box.
“And the first day the gaffa come in he told Kalvin ‘no, you are going to be a number four. You are going to get on the ball and play’.
“Straightaway, he took to it and he has now grown into it. He has slimmed down a little bit and he can cover good ground. He can pass the ball short, he can go long and find a pass, so he has everything.”
The decision to move Phillips deeper into midfield has worked a treat because he isn’t just thriving in that area in the Premier League but he’s also an England international now.
Whilst there were calls for Ayling to potentially receive an England call as well during the last international break, Phillips is near-on guaranteed to be part of the squad that will take part in the Euros this summer.
It’s just a question of whether he starts, both on his own or alongside Declan Rice, who does seem to be ahead of the Leeds man in Gareth Southgate’s plans.
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