Newcastle United are prepared to offer Kalvin Phillips a pay rise of £95,000 per week in order to lure him to St James’s Park, while West Ham and Aston Villa remain interested in the England international, according to MailOnline.
Leeds’ hopes of holding onto their star midfielder loos to be diminishing, despite Phillips’ eagerness to stay with the West Yorkshire club. According to Sportsmail, Phillips revealed on Monday that he is willing to extend his stay at Leeds, despite the emerging interest from high-flying West Ham and the ambitious Aston Villa.
Newcastle appear to pose the biggest threat thanks to their recent injection of cash from the new, Saudi-led Public Investment Fund and look poised to offer Phillips a whopping pay rise to take his weekly earnings to £125,000 per week to join the Toon.
Steven Gerrard is also desperate for midfield reinforcements, MailOnline reports, with the intent to replace either Douglas Luiz or Carney Chukwuemeka, both of whom are being tipped to make summer exits. Gerrard has identified Phillips as a primary target but remains wary of the price tag required to secure his signature.
It was also reported by MailOnline, that Leeds have previously rejected bids in excess of £50m from West Ham for the midfielder as recently as the past January transfer window.
Should West Ham secure Phillips’ signature, a conversation could certainly arise regarding the future of Declan Rice in East London. With the fellow Englishman also attracting attention from the Premier League’s elite, and the likes of Paul Pogba eyeing a move away from Old Trafford – the Red Devils could emerge as a likely suitor for Rice as they seek to finally solidify their deep-lying midfield role, and could face competition from Rice’s former academy side Chelsea for the coveted holding midfielder.