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Report hints at Bielsa’s stance on replacing Kalvin Phillips at Leeds

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Image for Report hints at Bielsa’s stance on replacing Kalvin Phillips at Leeds

Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa believes that young midfielder Alfie McCalmont could be an option to replace Kalvin Phillips at the heart of the Whites’ side, a report from Leeds Live has claimed.

Phillips has been linked with a move away from Elland Road on a number of occasions over the past 12 months, and it seems Bielsa was planning for the potential departure of his midfield catalyst as far back as last summer, and already had a replacement in mind at that point.

According to the latest reports, Bielsa believes that Alfie McCalmont is capable of stepping in to fulfil the role currently performed by Phillips as the lynchpin of the side, despite the youngster’s lack of experience.

Indeed, McCalmont has yet to make a league appearance for the Whites, with his only two senior outings coming in Leeds’ two EFL Cup matches earlier in the current campaign.

Despite that, it seems Bielsa had big things planned for McCalmont even before he had made his first-team bow back in August.

It is claimed that, when asked by director of football Victor Orta about how to deal with Phillips’ potential departure last summer, Bielsa – after watching every minute of the club’s under 23s side from the 2018/19 season – responded by saying: “Victor, it’s fine. Alfie McCalmont can play there if Kalvin goes. We will make it work.”

Those reported comments from Bielsa are a huge show of confidence in a player who has yet to even get a taste of Championship football, something which ought to also give McCalmont a huge lift when it comes to his own self-belief.

Even so, the fact that McCalmont is relatively untested at senior level means there would be more than an element of risk involved in turning to the youngster here should Phillips leave Elland Road, meaning you feel there would have to be some form of backup option on standby.

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UCLan Sports Journalism graduate. Have been working for Leeds All Over since summer 2020, and can only be found writing on Football League World.