Kalvin Phillips appealed to all corners of the Leeds United fan base. As he walks away from the dream he imagined as a child growing up in the city, his departure will sting everyone.
As the Leeds boy playing for the club he loved, everyone could live out their dreams through Phillips. He was one of them and he was doing everything on the field any Leeds fan would wish for.
Supporters at Elland Road watching his journey saw a son they wanted to protect, a grandson they wanted to lavish in praise, a big brother they looked up to, a little brother they would take down the park for a kickabout, or a mate from around the corner they wanted to go for a beer with. Phillips was a man of the people.
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It was easy to love everything about his story and what he became in those Leeds whites. He was the Wortley boy scouted later than his peers who, against the odds, made it.
So many could relate to the story of his tight-knit loving family, who pulled together to get him out to Thorp Arch for those crucial training sessions through his formative years. With more interviews and confidence came heartfelt stories about his mother’s sacrifices for him, while his beloved Granny Val was taken into hearts around the world after her star turn in the club’s Amazon documentary.
After his debut came the rise. It was impressive enough for Leeds to see one of their own turn into a competent Championship midfielder, but nobody could anticipate where this tale was going.
Not just the Leeds lad done good, no, Phillips will forever symbolise what Marcelo Bielsa did for the city and the club. They are unified in what they did on the pitch and from the sidelines across those four years that ended the Premier League exile.
The 26-year-old was transformed from a middling box-to-box midfielder into a deep-lying playmaker who destroyed opponents with his passing and tackling alike. Within 12 months of Bielsa’s arrival, bids of more than £20m were being fielded for Phillips.
Within another 14 months, he would be in the England squad before he’d even kicked a Premier League ball in anger. This was no longer just the Leeds boy playing for the club he loved, he was taking his city to an international audience.
The pride supporters felt in watching Phillips at Elland Road was only amplified when he bore the Three Lions. It was England, but he was still representing Leeds.
Throughout every moment of his miraculous story, he has smiled. That’s the real clincher in all of this success. Phillips looks like he’s enjoyed it as much as anyone in those four LS11 stands would.
Through promotion and those unforgettable wins of 2020/21, Phillips beamed and shared it with the terraces. He’s been the fan on the pitch and the one you have always believed understood what the crowd were going through.
This does not have to be the end of the journey either. Those who have watched Leeds since his 2015 debut will have no doubt seen that transition from boy to man. He still has plenty to achieve in his career and most supporters will surely not begrudge him the chance to squeeze every ounce from his short time as a player.
He may no longer be in the white he adores, but there can be a quiet satisfaction, pride even, in now watching Phillips fly the nest to chase greatness. With top-flight safety ensured, Phillips seems to have achieved what Bielsa predicted last September.
“He’s very important to us. I’ve seen conduct in him I rarely see in a player,” Bielsa said. “For a player to decline a club from a higher level due to the love of a club he is at is not frequent.
“One day he’ll stop playing for Leeds and the way he does it will convert him to an idol forever. I have a feeling. It’s intuition.
“I’m sure he would only leave if he sees the link to the place he was born remains intact. He will know how to do this.”
This column does not try to speak for everyone and there will no doubt be some who are unhappy Phillips would even have the temerity to push onto pastures new. However, a move to the blue half of Manchester to play for the greatest modern coach in the sport, a fellow disciple of Bielsa no less, feels about as good as it gets.
It’s taken the best club side in world football with the finest coach to lure the boy out of Leeds. That is some benchmark.
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