Newcastle join Villa in the race to sign Phillips

NEWCASTLE are among the clubs prepared to rival Aston Villa for Kalvin Phillips this summer.

The Leeds midfielder is set to leave Elland Road in the summer amid interest from a number of Premier League rivals.

West Ham saw bids of around £55million rejected in January with Leeds determined to hold on to their star man and secure their top-flight status.

However, England international Phillips, who has been sorely missed by Leeds since injuring his hamstring in December, is prepared to assess his options at the end of the season ahead of a potential big money move.

Newcastle, who travel to Chelsea today, showed an interest too in

January and are monitoring developments as they anticipate plenty of competition.

Villa, who play West Ham away today, had a £25m bid rejected for Brighton’s Yves Bissouma and he remains in their thoughts and those of Newcastle too as both search for a dynamic holding player.

Liverpool and Manchester United are also among Phillips’ admirers but they have other priorities as it stands. Newcastle plan to hold a meeting at the end of this month, plus once director of football Dan Ashworth is in place, to establish which priority positions Eddie Howe wants to recruit in the summer.

Recent results have given the club a boost in terms of being able to attract new players as they put building blocks in place for their new project.

Howe also needs to see which role best fits Bruno Guimaraes while the club have made initial enquiries already for Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby.