Aston Villa 'more exciting than Leeds' claim made amid Kalvin Phillips transfer link

Hello and welcome to a round-up of all the latest Aston Villa stories from BirminghamLive on Sunday, March 27 2022.

Aston Villa have once again been linked with Leeds United’s midfield dynamo Kalvin Phillips. The Times claimed last week that Villa are prepared to pay £60million for the England international whilst also offering him an ‘enormous’ salary.

Of course, if a player of Phillips’ quality were to hit the market Villa wouldn’t be the only suitors and West Ham, who had bids for the 26-year-old rejected in the last transfer window, are likely to be interested. Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle have also been touted as potential destinations.

As for Leeds, it is claimed they have no desire to sell their crown jewel, quite the reverse in fact. They are said to be preparing a new contract for a player who last signed fresh terms in 2019 - when he was heavily connected with a move to Villa.

Aston Villa head coach Steven Gerrard has been praised for being 'one of the only players that could still run' after making a goalscoring return to Anfield on Saturday afternoon for Liverpool Legends.

The former Reds captain won what was described as a 'stonewall' penalty in the first half that Gerrard, of course, stepped up to take and sent the visiting Barcelona goalkeeper the wrong way in the process of converting. Despite the 41-year-old's best efforts, though, Liverpool were defeated 2-1 in the charity match.

That result has not diminished the performance put in by the Villa boss, however, with Gerrard singled out as a top performer after skippering the side for the full 90 minutes. It was not the first time that the long-time Liverpool player had returned home, though, having also played in the most recent