Manchester City are planning to make a move for Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips before they travel out for their pre-season tour of the USA, according to reports in England.
After confirming the signing of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, the Premier League champions are keen to get another player in through the door as soon as possible.
Phillips is believed to be the number one target to replace Fernandinho but supporters on Twitter are split on whether the 26-year-old should be the priority:
Get it done
— 🥤 (@mcfcHazza) June 13, 2022
Anything over £40m and we should back away
— Jacob E|A (@Jacob4rmstrong) June 13, 2022
make it done asap
— Twice John10 (@Teoh10John) June 13, 2022
Left back should be our priority now.
— EDDY👑 (@ebenjay_) June 13, 2022
Leeds have literally just signed a replacement for him so we 100% getting Phillips 😌😌
— Cyrus 🙇🏻♂️ (@SilkyCyrus_74) June 13, 2022
Fullback is more important, cucurella first then Bellingham or gavi> phillips i beg
— Rikard Nyheim (@AmgR0216) June 14, 2022
Push push push more and more
— Taps Kedah Dias (@DiasTaps) June 13, 2022
No thank you
— Evolution 🇳🇬 (@Inhindsighyt) June 13, 2022
You’d have to say that signing another left-back is probably a more pressing concern, but it appears that manager Pep Guardiola wants to have more competition for Rodri.
Phillips has been linked with a number of other teams (including Manchester United, Liverpool, West Ham and Arsenal) so it may be the case that City want to get a deal done now to ensure they don’t have any competition for the player’s services. It should also be pointed out that he is capable of playing further forward, so the England international could be lined up as a replacement for Ilkay Gundogan. The German has one year remaining on his contract and he is yet to make a decision on his future.