Aston Villa aren’t short of deep-lying midfielders with Douglas Luiz, Marvelous Nakamba and Morgan Sanson, but they do need a more talented player that will sit in front of the back four and provide protection.
Nakamba is currently sidelined with an injury, Sanson doesn’t hold down a starting place and Luiz has operated in the makeshift role with varying levels of success, so Steven Gerrard is expected to dip in the transfer market this summer.
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Yves Bissouma and Olympique Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara are two players Villa have been linked with, but Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips is the one Alan Hutton believes they should go for.
Phillips has spent his entire professional career at Leeds but has an uncertain future as the club may have hit a ceiling in the Premier League. Leeds want to tie him down to an improved and long-term contract, but Hutton doesn’t think he’ll commit.
He told Football Insider: “I can’t see it, if I’m totally honest. Leeds fans won’t be happy with that. For Kalvin Phillips, as a footballer moving forward, he’s very capable of taking a step up. He’s a fully-fledged international player. If he wants to keep that spot, he needs to be playing at a high level.”
Phillips has made 227 appearances in all competitions for Leeds, scoring 14 goals with 13 assists. He’s regarded as one of the best defensive-midfielders in the Premier League and was England’s Player of the Year after impressing in the 2020 European Championships. Villa would be lucky to have a player of his calibre, but Hutton alluded that Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho’s arrival may have opened doors.
He added: “Are Aston Villa at that level at this moment in time? No, they aren’t, but that’s where they’re trying to get to (by signing Digne and Coutinho). To get to that next stage, they have to be looking at players like Kalvin Phillips to make them better. I totally understand why they’re going for him.”
In other news, Clinton Morrison says Cameron Archer has been ‘brilliant’ for Preston North End
