(Credit: Hasan Karim - Breaking Media)

Jonathan Burnett

Sat 2 August 2025 20:30, UK

Kalvin Phillips will be a “great” signing for Leeds United next season as Man City lower his asking price.

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Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, former Leeds and England goalkeeper Paul Robinson urged Leeds to push the button on a “homecoming” for Phillips at Elland Road.

Phillips‘ career has been in a tailspin since he left Leeds for Man City in 2022 for £45million, and he was deemed surplus to requirements after spending most of their treble-winning season on the bench.

Leeds have been linked with bringing Phillips back to Elland Road for some time and those links have gone up a notch since they won promotion back to the Premier League, despite their recruitment model.

The 29-year-old is currently recovering from an Achilles injury which could delay his exit from Man City, but Robinson told Football Insider that Leeds should still pursue a transfer for Phillips late in the window.

Robinson told Football Insider that Leeds‘ recruitment model is currently based on data and statistics which could put paid to Phillips’ chances of a move, but he’s keen to see the midfielder return “home”.

Pep Guardiola is ready to see the back of Phillips at Man City (Credit: Hasan Karim, Breaking Media)

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This article contains exclusive comment from Paul Robinson, a football pundit and former England, Tottenham and Leeds goalkeeper.

Leeds have been urged by many a pundit to re-sign Phillips this summer despite several additions in central midfield this summer, and the door could be held open for the last month of the transfer window.

Speaking on the latest Inside Track, Robinson argued that Phillips would still be a good fit for the Whites regardless of his lack of football in recent seasons, and tipped his former club to agree a cut-price deal.

“I’d love for it to happen”, Robinson told Football Insider.

“Since he left Leeds in 2022 for around £45million, the time at Manchester City hasn’t worked for him.

“For him and for Leeds, it just seems a good fit – there’s a player there, [and] it’s time for him to kickstart his career again away from Manchester City.

“It looks like he’s going to be leaving and I’d love to see a deal at Leeds be done, but the problem that we’ve got with Leeds is their recruitment.

“Leeds do a lot of their recruitment on numbers, stats and figures from the last three or four seasons, and if they are going to stick with that, there’s no chance they’re signing Kalvin Phillips.

“I think they should do it, I really do.

It’s a club that he loves, the club loves him and it just seems the right fit.

“If they can get over the line – I don’t suspect City will be holding out for anything like the £45million that they paid – it’ll be a decent deal.”

Daniel Farke has significantly bolstered his midfield in the summer transfer window with Sean Longstaff and Anton Stach signed for £29m combined, joining Ilia Gruev, Ao Tanaka and captain Ethan Ampadu.

Phillips would likely come in at the bottom of that pecking order, but that’s preferable to his current situation at Man City; completely out of the picture and losing his number four shirt to Tijjani Reijnders.

Man City see Phillips as one of the first big names they want to get off the books this summer, and if the door remains open at Elland Road in the final days of the transfer window, Leeds could still pursue a cut-price move for one of their favourite sons.

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