Why Kalvin Phillips's Leeds United legacy is about more than just football

Part of that is because today's top professionals are so sheltered from the public it is very difficult to know their character either side of the first and last whistle on matchday - and some are very different beasts on the field to off it.

“He will be loved definitively forever in the place where he was born and when he belongs," said then Leeds United coach Marcelo Bielsa in September.Having been privileged enough to very occasionally glimpse behind the curtain at Elland Road, it was easy to see what he meant.

"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," added Bielsa. "He will know how to do it.”

His words were proven right on Monday, when Phillips issued a lengthy and classy statement as he signed for Manchester City, and the club he has supported since childhood responded. But the lifelong bond between Phillips and his fellow Leeds fans was not constructed on Monday, or just on the field.

There are many examples of why Phillips was more than just a totemic footballer for Leeds as the academy product who came to dictate how Bielsa's teams thrilled Elland Road crowds and was part of only the second England team in history to reach a major tournament final, but here are just a few from this year.

On a cold, dark night in January, a group of us were at Elland Road to welcome those who had spent all day cycling the 127 miles from Anfield to the home of Leeds United to raise money for Stacey Daniel, the former Leeds women's striker stricken with multiple sclerosis.

Her illness left the 40-year-old unable to walk without crutches, let alone carry out such a gruelling task, but she was of course there to welcome her former team-mates, opponents and other members of the footballing community. So was one member of the men's first team. Phillips was keen to show his support for and talk to Daniel, who successfully raised the money she needed to undergo life-changing treatment in Mexico. You could see how much it meant to her.

In April Phillips, Joe Gelhardt and Raphinha surprised a group of young cancer sufferers and their parents and siblings invited to Elland Road by Yorkshire Cancer Trust.

"It’s been so nice to come and see the families," said Phillips, because that is the sort of thing footballers are supposed to (and in some cases told to) say at these events. "The kids have had some really tough moments with being involved or impacted by cancer in some way, so it’s nice to come and see them and put a smile on their faces."

But these were not just PR words. All three players genuinely wanted to be there, only too happy to pose for photos, sign autographs and chat to families who have had it tougher than most of us could ever know.

Phillips's humanity was already well known courtesy of how Amazon Prime had documented his relationship with his grandmother Val, who died last year. He wore a shirt with her name on the back as he and his England team-mates celebrated reaching the country's first European Championship final last summer.

A few weeks before meeting the cancer victims, when Leeds were effectively reprimanded by a group of their own fans for failing to mark the anniversary of Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight's deaths in Istanbul satisfactorily, the whole squad was assembled at a memorial ceremony next to the plaque at the ground for the pair which Phillips had laid a wreath alongside the previous year during lockdown restrictions.

Phillips was singled out by Gareth Senior - not for the criticism given to the club, but for ribbing at his outrageous choice of footwear the previous weekend. The demands that he be sold immediately if he ever wore those baggy orange "moon boots" again were made in jest but there an undertone: Keep your feet on the ground, lad.

If Phillips was as egotistical as all Premier League footballers are made out to be, he would have flounced off as soon as the ceremony finished.

Instead he bowed his head with an embarrassed smile, then hung around in exactly the same way he did with the cancer victims. He did not just pose for photographs, he even took some when fans wanted to pose with his team-mates.

Ever since his performances at the European Championships made the rest of the continent realise he was as a good as Elland Road already knew, Manchester United were linked with a transfer but it always felt unlikely he would make the mistake Alan Smith did. City were different - none of the historical emnity, Premier League champions, Champions League contenders and with a manager in Pep Guardiola who could continue the education Bielsa did not start but took to another level. There were no sulks or strikers to push the move through, no dragging out negotiations.

Phillips leaves with his legacy intact - a legacy built on more than just football.