Leeds United: Possible consequence of Kalvin Phillips leaving

A lot may have been expected of youngster Lewis Bate when he joined last summer, however, midfield options such as Mateusz Klich, Adam Forshaw and Kalvin Phillips have halted his potential development at Leeds United.

Bate swapped the bright lights of London and Chelsea for the hard-working Leeds in the hope that he would get some game time under Marcelo Bielsa, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth, with the Argentine manager handing Bate just 88 minutes of first-team action this season.

Heading into next season, though, that could change, with star midfielder Kalvin Phillips linked with a move away as many clubs are thought to be interested – and talks will only become louder the longer he does not sign a contract extension on his deal, which expires in 2024.

Bate’s time to shine?

It’s safe to say that if Leeds lost Phillips this summer it would be a hammer blow, as you just have to look at their form this season without the England international compared to last season, when he was fit for the majority of the campaign. However, they could already have a ready-made replacement in the form of Bate.

It is difficult to make a straight comparison between the two midfielders given Bate’s lack of minutes in the first team, but he did record a 78.9% pass completion rate in his 43 top-flight minutes, whereas Phillips’ is 82.9% (per WhoScored) – so not too dissimilar, and they both play in that holding midfield role which allows them to dictate the tempo of the game.

Bate is still just 19 years old but will surely back himself to become a mainstay in the side if Phillips was to leave given he’s already moved from London to Leeds in the last few months, but Phillips’ departure would leave a huge opening both on and off the pitch for Bate to show he’s got the natural ability to do what the Leeds academy product already does – he just needs that opportunity.

Having started 14 Premier League 2 fixtures this season and been on the bench for seven first-team games under Bielsa, it appears that the only natural progression is for Bate to get some more starts next season, which may only happen if Phillips departs given how much Bielsa appears to trust others such as Adam Forshaw and Mateusz Klich this season, with both of them featuring at least 15 times in the league.

In other news: ‘The downfall’ – Sky Sports man reveals key moment which lost Leeds the game