ExWHUemployee: West Ham mystery £50m bid was for Leeds United star Kalvin Phillips
West Ham could revisit a possible deal for Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips in the summer, according to ExWHUemployee.
The reliable Hammers insider has reported on the West Ham Way Patreon page that a £50million mystery bid that was tabled by the Irons was for Phillips, 25, and not his Leeds teammate Raphinha, as originally thought.
It is understood that The Sun were going to reveal the story about West Ham’s bid for Phillips and Ex adds that the deal “won’t happen” between now and the January transfer window closing on Monday.
However, ExWHUemployee does add that West Ham’s pursuit of Declan Rice’s England teammate “could be revisited in the summer”.
David Moyes was quoted by LeedsLive in September as saying he’s a “big admirer” of Phillips.
ExWHUemployee signs off on his update about Phillips by saying: “We expect to continue talks with players to sign this window but this is going to go right down to the deadline.”
Rice replacement?
We really do not understand why West Ham have made a bid for Phillips when firstly, he’s meant to be out injured until March and secondly, we really do not need players in his position.
It does show how much money Moyes has to spend on new players and that means that clubs could boost their demands as the Irons hunt down new signings.
Not many Premier League clubs have added to their first-team squads this month but there are big holes in our squad, especially in the defence and in the striker position.
While Phillips is a top-class player and one of the best holding midfielders in European football, West Ham simply do not need him – unless Rice is going to be sold.
However, as seen with England in the European Championships last year, Rice and Phillips perform incredibly well together so maybe Moyes is eyeing up a potential pairing of those two at the London Stadium.
But, again, the priority isn’t that area, we need a striker and we need a centre-half.
In other West Ham news, this player could reject a new contract offer after a bid was made by the Hammers.