Wolves are front of the queue to sign Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips, according to The Sun.
The report suggests that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side missed out on the 23-year-old over the summer after expressing late interest in him.
It is also understood that the club were put off by Leeds’ £30 million valuation of the player, and are hoping that the price tag on his head drops in the January window.
Phillips is yet to sign a new deal at Elland Road, with talks over an extension to his current contract ongoing.
TiF Tactics – Is Phillips ready to play in the Premier League?
The answer to this surely has to be yes.
The midfielder has been a standout player for Leeds in recent times, and looks every inch a star in the making.
The 23-year-old averaged 2.6 tackles in the Championship last year, as well as a pass completion rate of 82.1%, as per Whoscored.
Fast forward to this term, and after two matches those figures have jumped to four tackles and a rate of 87.7%.
The season is young, but the early signs are that he is getting even better, and if a Premier League side is looking for an enforcer to break up play and lay the foundations for attacking play further up the field, he is the man to be chasing, without a doubt.
Is he likely to leave?
There are two ways of looking at this.
Firstly, and most pessimistically, he is still yet to sign a new contract. That in itself is bad news, but it also creates a predicament for United.
Do they sell him now and cut their losses, or do they hold out and risk losing him on a free transfer if he doesn’t agree to a new deal?
The flip side, and a slightly sunnier outlook, is that they have set out their stall early by valuing him at £30 million.
That will, and has, put a lot of sides off, and if Marcelo Bielsa’s men can really push on and mount a promotion charge again this season, it could be enough to convince Phillips – who is a local boy remember – into putting pen to paper.