Why in-demand Kalvin Phillips can become a Leeds United icon

The Leeds coach believes Phillips’s soaring reputation means he has to work harder to be at his best, and inevitably it is bringing unwanted interest.

When England squads were named last season Leeds fans would have been scanning them to see if Phillips was involved but yesterday it was a given after 12 months which saw him win the Three Lions’ player of the year award. Bielsa believes that greater international stature has made him naturally lead more at club level too.

Manchester United were this week linked with a move for the midfielder, and he should know enough about what Bielsa refers to as “the place where he was born and when he belongs” to realise a move to Old Trafford could destroy his standing on the Elland Road terraces if handled badly. Pulling on the heartstrings as he went, Bielsa says intuition tells him Phillips will not fall into that trap, and will instead go down as a club idol.

“For us he’s a very valuable player,” said Bielsa. “I’ve seen in him a conduct I’ve very rarely seen in a player.

“For a player to decline a (move to a) team above the level he’s at due to the love of the club where he is (currently playing) is not frequent.

“I am certain Kalvin is going to enjoy the decisions he makes for the rest of his life.

“He will be loved definitively forever in the place where he was born and when he belongs.

“When you go for the money or the evolution (of your career) you resolve a moment in your sporting career but when you’re loved where you’re from, the possibilities to be happy increase.”

Bielsa should know what he is talking about as he has a stadium named after him in his home city of Rosario, home to Newell’s Old Boys, the club where he progressed from youth to senior coaching.

Regardless of whether they come to fruition or not, stories of transfer interest months before the window reopens in January could destabilise a player.

“It depends on the player,” argued Bielsa when asked if that might be the case with Phillips. “It destabilises those who don’t know what they want and how to manage the timing. The day Phillips stops playing for Leeds it will convert him into an idol forever. I have the feeling, it’s intuition.

“I don’t know how the thinking in a human being evolves and how all the things around him have influence, you can’t account for that. I also don’t know Kalvin intimately. But due to the family he has and how he’s managed his decisions since I’ve known him, I’m sure the day he leaves Leeds and the way he does it, of course it’s going to generate disappointment, but it’s going to solidify his link to the club, the people and the city because I’m sure he would only leave if he’s sees that it’s guaranteed the link to the place where he’s born remains intact. He will know how to do it.”

One of those who helps Phillips manage his decisions – his agent, former Leeds left-back Kevin Sharp – certainly did nothing to stir alarm at the recent media speculation.

“I can only see a positive outcome,” he said of talks to extend a contract which already runs until 2024. “Kalvin’s desire is to stay at Leeds and there is a real willingness from all sides to make it happen.”

Manchester United are said to have turned their attention to the 25-year-old because West Ham United’s price for his England central midfield partner Declan Rice, understood to be in the region of £100m, was prohibitive so there is nothing to stop Leeds using the same tactic to ward them off.

There are bound to be other rich clubs who would like a player who has impressed as a defensive midfielder for Leeds, and a more attacking one for England but with Bielsa’s whole style of play built around a holding midfielder who controls the tempo of the game, Phillips is of massive importance to Leeds, and his coach says it is growing.

“Kalvin’s passage through the national team and the evaluation of his game clearly allows him to have a leadership within the team,” said the former Argentina and Chile coach.

“When a player performs, that improvement in his performance is perceived by everybody. One of the consequences is to be able to do what you did before, you have to make more of an effort. Opponents see he’s a player that shines, that’s performing, they do their utmost to neutralise him and that demands he elevates his game.”

Leeds expect to have Diego Llorente back at home to Watford on Saturday and fellow centre-back Pascal Struijk is available after suspension, but Luke Ayling is set for a minor operation to “clean up” his knee, Patrick Bamford is not expected back from an ankle injury until mid-October and the timeframe for Robin Koch’s return from a pelvic injury is unknown.