Aston Villa willing to spend £20m on versatile midfield ace: Pros and cons of signing him

Aston Villa have been quite busy in the transfer market so far, spending over €50 million to sign five players.

The Villans broke their transfer record with the signing of Wesley Moraes for a fee of €25 million, but it doesn’t seem like they will stop any time soon.

Dean Smith’s side are now interested in signing Leeds United’s promising defensive midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who had a great season for the Whites. 

The Sun, cited by Daily Star, reported recently that Villa are going to make a bid of £20 million for the 23-year-old midfielder, but Leeds want £30 million for Phillips, who was included in the Championship Team of the Season following his impressive performances last season.

The English defensive midfielder joined Leeds when he was 15 and has come through the ranks to become an important first-team player for the club.

Phillips’ contract with Leeds United expires in 2021. The midfielder has played 141 games for Leeds since making his senior debut in 2015, scoring 10 goals in the process.

Pros

Phillips has matured into a fine player who can protect the defence, and can comfortably play as a centre-back as well.

The 23-year-old is a strong tackler of the ball, and made an average of 2.6 tackles last season on an average. He also averaged 2.6 clearances in the 2018-19 season.

The midfielder’s distribution skills are very good as well, as he is a good passer from deep in midfield, long or short.

Phillips completed 82.1% of all his passes, while averaging 58.5 passes a game in last year’s campaign. He could be a great foil to the much more attack-minded John McGinn and Jack Grealish in Aston Villa’s midfield. The two were two of Villa’s most important players in last year’s successful Championship campaign.

Cons

The English defensive midfielder has no Premier League experience, which is vital for a side like Aston Villa who have return to the top flight, and will hope to keep their top flight status next season.

Phillips could be a useful squad player for Villa, but at £20+ million, he will be an expensive buy for just a squad player.

Although he is a good tackler of the ball, Phillips does commit quite a few fouls, which he will have to curb if he plays in the Premier League.