West Ham is reportedly determined to land Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips and are preparing a huge summer bid for the England international.
That’s according to a recent report from Football Insider, who claims the end of the season could see the Hammers revisit the possibility of signing Phillips.
David Moyes was heavily linked with bringing the Leeds United fan-favourite to the London Stadium in January and even offered the Whites as much as £55m on deadline day (The Sun).
However, after rejecting their domestic rivals’ offer, Phillips has remained a Leeds United player for the second half of the season but that could all be set to change in the coming months.
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Currently valued at between £60m – £70m, it is certainly going to take a hefty offer to prize the English defensive midfielder, who is not keen to extend his deal that runs until 2024, away from Elland Road.
The Hammers are understood to be prepared to come up with the money required though but could also see their chances of signing Phillips boosted if Jesse Marsch cannot keep Leeds United in the Premier League.
Phillips to move to West Ham if Leeds United get relegated?
Back-to-back wins against Norwich City and most recently Wolves have seen the Whites improve on their league position and now find themselves seven points clear of the drop zone.
However, with eight games still to play, Leeds United’s status as a top-flight side is far from assured and failure to continue their momentum could see their season end in disaster.
Should that happen, West Ham will undoubtedly be licking their lips at the prospect of finally getting their man with Leeds United’s position at the negotiating table also likely to weaken.
Since being promoted from the Whites’ youth academy to their senior first-team in 2015, Phillips has gone on to feature in 226 matches, in all competitions, scoring 14 goals and assisting a further 13, along the way.