Aston Villa are keen on a summer transfer that would see England international Kalvin Phillips swap Elland Road for Villa Park.

What's the word?

That is according to a report from the Telegraph who have reiterated Aston Villa's link to Phillips but have also mentioned a couple of factors that will be perceived as stumbling blocks in their bid to grab the 26-year-old from the clutches of Leeds United.

As mentioned in the report, Phillips is said to be high on the list of Manchester City, with Liverpool also thought to be monitoring the situation.

There is also a possibility that the England star stays at Elland Road for another season, amidst ongoing contract talks with the club.

The Telegraph estimate that Phillips will cost between £50m-£60m.

Big statement signing

When the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool are eyeing a player, there is a high chance that he will bolster the majority of teams in the league - whatever the position.

So it goes without saying that the acquisition of Phillips, who has been dubbed a "destroyer" by Steve McLaren,  would bolster Gerrard's engine room by providing stability, merged with technical excellence and undoubted range of passing.

The kicker would be his price tag, especially considering his injury woes as of late.

In all honesty, it would be too much of a risk for Villa to fork out that kind of money on a player who could feature as little as Leon Bailey did last season but it would be a truly phenomenal statement if they can get a deal over the line.

His defensive metrics are truly outstanding and it's easy to see why he was deemed "immense" by Marcus Rashford, with his average of 28.42 pressures per 90 and total of 5.58 tackles & interceptions per 90 placing him in the utmost elite category, as per FBref.

Though it is also worth noting that new signing Boubacar Kamara is not too far off the latter mentioned metric, achieving 4.75 tackles & interceptions per 90.

In truth, with the signing of a promising defensive talent like Kamara, Villa do not need to spend extra funds on Phillips, but if they do, it will serve as a real luxury signing and a real statement of intent from Johan Lange to improve on their average of 1.4 goals conceded per match.

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