Kalvin Phillips will be hoping to guide his boyhood club Leeds United to the Premier League in May.
Marcelo Bielsa has told Leeds Live that it would be a ‘proud’ moment if Kalvin Phillips does earn his first England call-up next month.
Ahead of Leeds’ Championship clash against Middlesbrough on Wednesday night, Bielsa was asked about his man in the middle getting called up by Gareth Southgate and admitted that if it happens it’s something that is ‘not easy to get’.
It would be some story for Phillips if he is called up by his country and perhaps deserved given the performances he has put in the Championship in recent seasons.
His manager, who has worked on the international stage before, was asked about Phillips potentially earning an England call, and this is how he responded.
“It’s something that Leeds, all the club, himself, his teammates have to proud of this,” Bielsa told Leeds Live. “If that happens, it’s not easy to get it. For this reason, everybody has to be proud.
“I worked as the national team manager in Argentina and Chile and I didn’t like other managers telling the press which players the national team had to pick, so I don’t want to make this mistake.”
For the majority of the time, it has been West Ham’s Declan Rice who has played the number 6 role for Southgate, with Harry Winks also playing that position.
But there’s no doubt that it’s an area of weakness for England, and if called upon, Phillips could provide Southgate with something else to think about.
Given that his performances have come in the second tier, it does hinder his chances, but Mason Mount got called up when he was playing for Derby last season.
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