In this article we look at the transfer of Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United to Manchester City and assess whether we think it is a good deal for any party
First of all we should pull up his stats for Leeds and see what Man City are buying
Stats
Lets look at the stats for Kalvin Phillips
First things to factor in are that the Championship is a 46 game season and the Premier League is a 38 game season. This is obviously doesn’t break these down in starts or sub appearances but as you can see from 2017-2018 when he was a starter
Goal wise is not something that Man City will probably get, saying that they create more chances than Leeds but 49 EPL games and 1 goal, which was a free kick at the end of 20-21 season against already relegated West Brom at home
You can also that games missed has been 11, 9 and 18 in the last 3 seasons, so a player that does suffer many injuries.
Also apart from one season his goal tally is 1 or 2 per season, is that his role – n oit is not but goals you are not getting here.
| Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 2014–15 | Championship | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2015–16 | Championship | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 2016–17 | Championship | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 1 |
| 2017–18 | Championship | 41 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 7 |
| 2018–19 | Championship | 42 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 1 |
| 2019–20 | Championship | 37 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 2 |
| 2020–21 | Premier League | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 1 |
| 2021–22 | Premier League | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 1 |
| Total | 214 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 234 | 14 | |
Lets look at some individual stats
Man City
From a Man City point of view its a fairly modest outlay at 45 million for a 26 year old player who adds to the quota of English based players and is also an internationalist for England as well.
He will more than likely be a backup player or a rotation option, maybe playing in the domestic cups and if Man City qualify from the Champions league group stages quickly he will feature in some of the ‘easier’ games.
Will he start in front of Man City’s midfielders I don’t think so – certainly not in front of Rodri who plays in a similar position.
Phillips was converted into a defensive midfielder by Marcelo Bielsa before the start of the 2018–19 season. He is known for his range of short sharp passing, long ball distribution and ability to start attacks whilst covering his defensive duties.
Leeds
Well, Leeds lose one of their big assets and the fee seems pretty good, maybe could have squeezed another 5-10 million but that would be pushing it with the injury record in the last few years
Yes he was a Leeds born lad and a talisman for the fans but is he irreplaceable, no way. A CDM is a position I think that Leeds can pick up a perfectly capable player for who has the same level of talent and ability and more importantly fits in with the new coaches system.
I think a player could be acquired for around 20 – 25 million allowing Leeds to but another 1 or 2 to fill out a really poor, threadbare squad that were luck to stay in the EPL last season.
That is just with this transfer alone.
The Player
From the players point of view this will be a win-win
He will undoubtedly be on way more money at Man City than at leeds and he will also now have a very good chance of winning trophies which in all likelihood are a few years away at Leeds even if they do try and rebuild.
If he doesn’t regularly start at Man City does he start for England, does he picked – that would be a gamble but with the current England manager who knows.