West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has been valued at £150million by his club, and Leeds United should be following that mindset.
Kalvin Phillips’ future is one that is up for debate right now, with £60million links to Aston Villa emerging earlier this week via the Times.
The England international has been hot property ever since beginning Leeds’ climb back into the Premier League back in 2018/19 under Marcelo Bielsa.
However, the club have stood firm on this sort of interest for some time now, but as we head towards the summer it looks likely that Leeds’ resolve will be tested.
Meanwhile, West Ham have a holding midfielder dilemma of their own with Declan Rice also a wanted man, but they have since responded by slapping a £150million price tag on his head.
Here, we take a look at two reasons why Leeds should be following suit with this sort of valuation…
If Rice is worth that, how much is Phillips worth?
This should be the immediate stance that Leeds hold when it comes to a sale of Phillips, given that they both play the same position and are on arguably a similar level.
Leeds and West Ham fans could debate all year about who is better, and while Rice is currently the better of the two, it shows that there isn’t a great deal between them when they’re both on top form.
We could make a strong argument then, that if the Irons are asking for that much for Phillips, we can get him signed to a new deal (that he’s keen on) and command an astronomical fee too.
We’re not saying that the club could slap that sort of price tag on him, but it would make a lot of sense if Leeds apply the same logic to Phillips and make it a case of either you pay what we want for him, or take your bids elsewhere.
How much is Kalvin Phillips worth?
Less than £60m
Around £60m
More than £60m
Matching ambition
West Ham are pushing to break up the top-four picture at the moment and to do that they need to build around their best player.
Placing that sort of valuation on your star man is a real statement of intent that he’s a big part of the future of the club.
We need to do the same to Phillips because it sends a message to not only the league but the rest of the players that we’re not messing around.
Back that up with a contract befitting of his importance and signings to enhance the squad and you a much better case to make when convincing him to stay.