Patrick Bamford has admitted that the players at Leeds United were “pushing” Kalvin Phillips to make the move to Manchester City to pursue his ambition of winning silverware.
Phillips ended his Leeds journey, which started over 12 years ago when he joined the club’s academy at 14 years old, by making the £45m switch to the Premier League champions this summer.
The 26-year-old progressed through the ranks and went on to make over 200 appearances for the Whites after signing his first professional deal in 2014, and quickly became a local hero for his efforts in helping the club regain its Premier League status after 16 years in the Football League.
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In addition to widespread admiration for his domestic performances with the Elland Road club, Phillips has also become a mainstay in Gareth Southgate’s England squad and was voted as BT’s England player of the year for 2020/21 as one of the key components of the Three Lions side that reached the final of Euro 2020 last summer.
His performances at the Euros are what really put him on the map and on the radar of a host of clubs, including Leeds’ rivals Manchester United, who Phillips turned down to move to the blue side of the city instead.
The Leeds support and players were obviously sad to see a player of Phillips’ calibre and passion for the club depart, but he goes with the blessing of the majority of those fans and, as Bamford confessed, the players too, who even pushed him to make the move.
"It said it all when Kalvin went straight from getting promoted to being in the England team and becoming a mainstay there," said Bamford. "He deserves this chance to fight for trophies on all fronts.
"None of us can begrudge him for going. As sad as it is, we were almost pushing him because he deserves it and it's his time."
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