Explained: What needs to happen if Aston Villa are to sign Kalvin Phillips

Aston Villa want to bring Kalvin Phillips in from Leeds United this summer. Villa's chief executive Christian Purslow is prepared to smash a club-record £60million on the proposed deal while making the England ace Villa's top earner with a reported salary package of around £10million.

Phillips, 26, has missed a large chunk of this season due to a hamstring issue but the midfielder is back to help Leeds fight off relegation with just eight fixtures remaining over the next two months. Villa, meanwhile, are expected to push hard to sign the Leeds man when the summer transfer window opens in July.

Here, checks in with Leeds United correspondent Beren Cross ( ) from to get the Yorkshire perspective surrounding a potential deal involving Phillips, Leeds and Villa. Villa, of course, tried to sign the midfielder upon promotion back in 2019 with Phillips almost agreeing to a move but for a last-minute U-turn. Here's the Leeds United stance with regards to the ongoing transfer saga:

The fan base hasn't been too rattled by it. There is an acceptance clubs will always be interested in Phillips because of his quality and the precarious situation the club is currently in. Villa's interest charts back to Dean Smith's tenure after their promotion in 2019 when Leeds fell away in the play-offs, so it was no huge surprise to see Gerrard is interested in one of England's brightest prospects. Ultimately, if the club go down nobody will begrudge Phillips leaving, but if they stay up there is a lot of optimism he will sign a new deal and remain in place for the next phase under Marsch.

Well, the current stance is this can wait until the summer when we know what division the club's going to be in. If they are relegated then they will