Rumours around Kalvin Phillips' future at Leeds United continue to swirl and on Sunday there were reports about Aston Villa being at the front of the queue to sign the midfielder in the summer. The Times claimed that Villa are ready to make a £60million bid for the England international and they have also named one of the players Leeds are said to be interested in as a replacement for their homegrown star.
The player in question is Swansea City's Flynn Downes. The Swans picked up the 23-year-old midfielder from Ipswich Town last summer for a fee of only £1.5million and he has starred in Russell Martin's midfield, making 31 appearances, primarily on the right side of a deep midfield two in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
The report mentions that the Whites see Downes as a potential replacement for Phillips but given that the two players are very different in profile, this would seem surprising. The former Ipswich man could fit nicely into the midfield two that Jesse Marsch wants to play in his 4-2-2-2 formation, but he is much closer in play-style to Adam Forshaw or Mateusz Klich.
Read more: Aston Villa 'lead race' to sign £60 million Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips
So far under Marsch, Klich has looked impressive playing in a deeper position. In Marcelo Bielsa's system, he was required to make a lot of attacking runs but his role in Marsch's system requires him to hold position more and brings his passing into play as he helps progress the ball through the middle of the pitch.
We have yet to see how Phillips will function in the 4-2-2-2 but he is primarily a ball-winner, as he has been playing in Bielsa's Leeds team and playing for England. On the ball, he has an excellent ability to play long passes into the channels and to switch the play but it will be interesting to see how that passing will fit in now that Leeds are playing a system with much less width.
Downes has been a deep-lying playmaker for Swansea, with Martin wanting his side to dominate the ball. Therefore, he acts almost like a metronome for his team. He is graceful on the ball and uses his body well to move out of pressure. He sets the tempo, takes a very high amount of touches and makes lots of short passes as he helps his team probe for space to play through opponents. This makes him a less direct player than somebody like Phillips.
However, if Leeds were to buy Downes, Marsch might require him to be more direct than he is right now, as the American doesn't want to look after the ball in the same way Martin does. He's happy for Leeds to turn the ball over if they put it into dangerous areas because they can counter-press from that position.
In terms of Downes' defensive work and physical profile, he is tall and covers ground well with long strides but he lacks the upper body strength and aggression of Phillips. He wouldn't be winning the ball back in the spectacular fashion that Phillips can through crunching tackles. Downes' defensive work is more about positioning. Considering Marsch's defensive system involves defending space more, when the opponent has the ball in Leeds' half, this is something that could make Downes suit nicely.
Therefore, Downes is by no means a like-for-like replacement for Phillips. Whether the Whites' fan-favourite signs a new contract or not, Downes could slot into the midfield two comfortably. Leeds have certainly lacked depth in midfield in 2021/22 and could do with another player in midfield. He would provide another option in terms of controlling the ball a little better than they do currently.
We want to hear your thoughts, so LOG IN and leave your comment below
