Beckford says club must make Ell of an effort to keep Kalvin
JERMAINE BECKFORD says Leeds should “handcuff” Kalvin Phillips to Elland Road to keep the England star out of moneybags Manchester City’s clutches.
Speculation surrounds the future of homegrown hero Phillips, with Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions tipped to bid for him this summer.
Whites legend Beckford scored the goals which famously dumped Manchester United out of the
FA Cup and sealed promotion from League One in 2009-10.
And he fears Phillips, 26, could leave, but is praying he’ll turn down any big-money offers and sign a new and improved deal with the Yorkshire giants.
Beckford expects Brazilian sensation Raphinha to be sold
– but said: “The situation with Kalvin is trickier.
“If he stays, he’s going to be playing week in and week out for Leeds in the Premier League and he’s an England regular now too.
“He loves playing for his boyhood club but if his contract situation is not resolved relatively quickly – and I would be tempted to fast track it through – then naturally one of the top-four teams will come in for him.
“When you look at players like Fernandinho leaving Man City, and James Milner coming towards the end of his Liverpool career, you’ve got to ask, ‘Would they be interested in a player like Kalvin?’
“The answer would probably be, ‘Yes’.
“But I don’t want him to leave because he’s a phenomenal footballer and an amazing human being.
“I’ve spoken to one or two of the other lads and told them not to let Kalvin go – and to handcuff him to the crossbar if they have to!”
Raphinha seems certain to depart, however, with Barcelona heavily linked with the winger, and Beckford
ROSS HEPPENSTALL
added: “He’s set his sights on challenging for a European trophy and you can’t blame him.
“Raphinha’s been one of the shining lights for Leeds during the past two seasons – even after a couple of bad games here and there.”
Leeds have signed midfielder Brenden Aaronson, 21, (below) from RB Salzburg for £25million and have also been linked with Huddersfield captain Lewis O’Brien, Manchester United’s James Garner and Salzburg’s Rasmus Kristensen.
After scraping to safety on the final day of the season, Leeds will continue to strengthen Jesse Marsch’s squad.
And Beckford warned:
“It’s a long road ahead because we stayed up by the skin of our teeth, so no one should be getting carried away about staying in the Premier League a third season.
“When Leeds got promoted in 2020, there was a plan which involved staying in the Premier League and the building blocks could start evolving from there.
“West Ham and Leicester built steadily in recent years, but we need strength in depth and quality too because we saw how injuries to key players affected Leeds this past season.
“Look at Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs – when they’re without key players they can replace them almost with like-for-like players within their squad.
“Eventually, that’s where we need to find ourselves.”
Beckford was speaking at an event to support Yorkshire Cancer
Research, who have been the official charity partner of Leeds United for the past two seasons.