Phil Hay would not be surprised to see a Leeds United player sold in the summer for big money which was then reinvested.
The Leeds reporter for The Athletic was speaking on the latest episode of The Phil Hay Show during the final international break before the conclusion of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign.
Who would you rather stay at Leeds?
Raphinha
Kalvin Phillips
Hay’s comments come amid transfer speculation surrounding the future of Leeds duo Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips ahead of the summer transfer window.
Raphinha is being heavily linked with a possible departure from Elland Road, with Barcelona believed to be one of the clubs showing serious interest, having already sounded out his agent, Deco.
Phillips is also being tipped with a potential summer exit, with Steven Gerrard and Aston Villa believed to be interested in possibly signing the 26-year-old.
With Leeds set for a summer window with a new manager at the helm for the first time since 2018, Hay feels this could be an opportunity for Leeds to make some major changes with a number of players such as Raphinha with their futures in serious doubt.
He said: “And then obviously, you’ve got Phillips as well and [Illan] Meslier, I mean, this conversation is just going to go on endlessly, isn’t it? But yeah, I think if you canvassed a lot of people, including us journalists, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if somebody did go for big money in the summer, and that was cash that was reinvested.”
TIF Thoughts on Hay’s comments…
There is an awful lot of speculation tipping Raphinha with a potential move away in the summer, with a number of Premier League clubs also being linked with interest.
And although he has played a huge part in their Premier League season so far, we think selling him would not be the end of the world for the Whites.
Undoubtedly, Raphinha has shown impressive form this season, however, we have seen in previous years with Leicester City that selling your best player(s) can be made to work.
However, if a player of Phillips’ or Raphinha’s calibre was to be sold, it would put immense pressure on the shoulders of the Leeds board to reinvest wisely.
In other news: ‘In loads of pain’ – Phil Hay reveals another Leeds injury scare on top of four replaced