Although Raphinha has dazzled in West Yorkshire, it could certainly be argued that Kalvin Phillips is the jewel in Leeds United's crown. A homegrown hero with an army of admirers, he has grown from an energetic Championship battler into a savvy Premier League talent with the ability to go toe-to-toe with Europe's elite.
He has been plagued by injuries this season but it does not appear to have put a dent in his reputation and Manchester United are reportedly working on a deal to sign the 26-year-old. Leeds will most likely fight tooth and nail to hold on to their coveted asset but it is also likely that they have a contingency in place in case he does move on.
Replacing the England international would be difficult but using Macro Football's Player Replacement Shortlist Generator, LeedsLive have compiled a list of potential targets. The generator assesses a player's similarity to Phillips as well as the similarity of their current club to Leeds, whilst also taking 'isolated impact' into account. 'Isolated impact' estimates 'an individual player’s impact on their team’s offensive chance generation and the suppression of the opposition team’s chance creation, controlling for teammates, opposition players, managers, and match situation, relative to the league average player'.
