Leeds United’s reliance on Kalvin Phillips was no more starkly displayed than their performances whilst absent for three games through a red-card suspension and his past two performances since returning. He’s a key player to the system. Former United midfielder, Michael Brown, gives some details of Phillips’ release clause at the club in words carried by Football Insider.
There was much speculation as to whether Phillips would leave Elland Road this summer with newly-promoted Aston Villa said to be heavily interested in taking him to the Premier League. However, all that fell by the wayside when the Wortley-born local lad signed a new five-year deal with the Whites.
Inserted into that was a ubiquitous release clause detailing exacting criteria that must be met by an interested club to trigger transfer talks. Numbers have been thrown around such as £20-25million but Michael Brown, speaking to Football Insider, adds some extra colour and detail to what this release clause looks like.
When asked by Football Insider about the release clause and its supposed £20million value, Brown said: “It’s more than that. Much more, yes.” These words come from Brown himself who said that it was relayed to him “by club sources.”
Since breaking through into the Leeds United first-team, Phillips, termed ‘The Yorkshire Pirlo’ by Whites fans, has gone on to make 173 appearances for his home-town club, scoring 11 goals and providing 10 assists. He has also been reinvented by Marcelo Bielsa, the legendary Argentinian converting him from a box-to-box midfielder into a deep-lying playmaking midfield enforcer.
Should Leeds United not go up to the Premier League this season, Phillips’ consistent displays at the heart of the Whites system will, no doubt, lead to at least one top-tier side testing the water and the tightness of that release clause.
