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Aston Villa boss Dean Smith told Leeds star would be ‘perfect signing’
FORMER Aston Villa striker Darren Bent believes Leeds star Kalvin Phillips would be a “perfect signing”.
Phillips excelled in a holding midfield role under Marcelo Bielsa last season, and The Whites value him at £30million.
Villa are not willing to pay that fee, however, and are trying to wrangle a thriftier deal for the 23-year-old.
Phillips has already turned down an improved contract offer from Leeds and it may take a transfer request from the player to force through a move.
Villa are on the verge of their eighth summer signing with Brentford centre-back Ezri Konsa about to join for £12m, but Bent feels Phillips’ arrival would be huge for Dean Smith’s side.
The perfect, ideal replacement for Glenn Whelan
“I’d love to see him at Villa,” Bent told Football Insider.
“The perfect, ideal replacement for Glenn Whelan. He gets around the pitch, good on the ball, takes free kicks and honestly I couldn’t speak highly enough of him.
“I watched him a lot last season and done quite a lot of games and every game he impressed me.
“I thought in the playoffs, second leg against Derby, he was probably the best player on the pitch.
“He set up the first goal, put tackles in, and I saw at times even when he played centre-half he didn’t look out of place as well.
“He was brilliant so, for me, perfect signing. He’s going to cost them a fair bit though.
“Are Leeds going to go and sell Jack Clarke and Kalvin Phillips, their two best youngsters?
“I’m not quite sure, but if I was Aston Villa I’d be doing everything I could to try and get him.”
No Premier League club this summer have spent more than Villa, who are making use of the £80m gained from TV and commercial money upon promotion to the top flight.
Deals for Said Benrahma and Adam Webster were also in the pipeline but the latter’s may be off after Konsa is sewn up.