West Ham wanted to recreate Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips' England partnership, but were beaten to Phillips by Manchester City, David Moyes has revealed. And it wasn't just that City won the race for the Leeds midfielder, but Moyes says West Ham bid more for Phillips than the fee City ended up paying.
City agreed a £42m deal for Phillips, with another £3m in add-ons taking the total transfer up to a possible £45m. He may have been available for cheaper still, had Leeds been relegated last season and a relegation release clause was activated.
Still, City will feel that £42m for an England international is good business, especially having recouped £45m for Gabriel Jesus and almost £50m for Raheem Sterling this summer, plus over £25m in academy sales.
