Soon-to-be Manchester City player Kalvin Phillips made no secret of his desire to play in the Champions League last year.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News on Friday, City have reached an agreement with Leeds to make the England international their third signing of the summer transfer window. It's understood that Phillips will join the Blues for an initial fee of £42million, with a further £3million being paid in add-ons.
The midfield enforcer, who has only spent two seasons playing in the Premier League, will follow Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland in being added to Pep Guardiola's squad this summer, should no late snags be encountered. Phillips, who will turn 27 during the World Cup later this year, had been identified as City's top target to replace popular Brazilian Fernandinho.
READ MORE: Gary Neville and Roy Keane disagree over what Kalvin Phillips transfer will offer City
Phillips has been the subject of interest from a plethora of big-name clubs in recent months, including Manchester United. The Manchester Evening News reported back in April that the Reds were working on a deal to try and lure him to Old Trafford.
However, City look set to win the race for the Leeds-born midfielder. That means that Phillips will achieve his dream of playing Champions League football, although he admitted that he wanted to experience that feeling in the colours of his boyhood club.
"I want to be a player that's got a lot of games to his name, but I want them to be games that mean something," Phillips told GQ last year. "I want to play in the Europa League and the Champions League.
"But I want to do that, ideally, with Leeds. And the way that we're heading, there's no reason why we shouldn't."
Phillips, who starred for England at the European Championship last summer, has established himself as one of the Premier League's best defensive-midfielders ever since Leeds won promotion two years ago. He went from strength to strength under former Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa, and Guardiola will be aiming to take him to an even higher level.
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