Kalvin Phillips, the man of millions who was sportingly resurrected at the hands of Marcelo Bielsa. Photo: Reuters
The Manchester City by Pep Guardiola has no limits. His bloated wallet allowed him to add Erling Haaland and Julián Álvarez to this transfer market. With the goals secured, the citizens they went to look for a player in a very important position: the central midfielder. the chosen one was Kalvin Phillips, the Leeds midfielder Marcelo Bielsa has been able to promote at a time when no one trusted him.
According to The Athletic website, the English club will pay 51 million dollars for the pass of the 26-year-old footballer, to which they could add 3 and a half million more for potential bonuses if certain goals are met. The agreement is still verbal and, although the details for the execution of the operation are missing, everything seems to end in the right way.
The race to catch a central midfielder from the citizens runs through the recent departure of Fernandinho, who will play in the Brazilian league again after 17 years. The flexible 37-year-old midfielder will wear the Paranaense shirt again after nine years at the Premier League club where he won 14 trophies.
Kalvin Phillips, Manchester City’s new central midfielder. Photo: AFP
In this way, the midfielder of the English national team will have the opportunity to fight against the great powers in the most important European competitions. With the City shirt the goals are great: fighting for the Premier League and Champions League, the great desire of Guardiola. The fight not to go down, recurring in Leeds, is over.
Kalvin Phillips, the great success of Bielsa
the of Calvin Phillips It’s a movie story. When Marcelo Bielsa arrived at Leeds United in June 2018, at the time playing in the league (English second division), the youngster was one of the promises of the institution. Phillips was born in that town and made all the inferiors in the Elland Road club. But the budding star did not perform on the pitch.
The stadium has resisted many times. Leaders and fans have thought about lending or selling it due to poor results e Bielsa expressly asked for his stay before hiring. He declared, after seeing all the games of the season, that he would be one of the future stars of the league.
Pep Guardiola has the central midfielder he wanted so much. Photo: Reuters.
Time has proved him right. Kalvin Phillips has gone from being a nearly wiped out player to one of the keys to Leeds de Bielsa. He has been the holder of the Rosario in all seasons at the helm of the British club, obtained promotion to the Premier League after 16 years and was subsequently called up for the English national team. He also became a fixture for the British in the last European Championship.
“Thank you Marcelo for everything you did for me. You saw in me what I didn’t even see in myself. You helped me grow as a player, but above all as a person. I wish you all the best for your next chapter”, was Kalvin Phillips’ message after Marcelo Bielsa was fired. Of course, they have formed a special relationship.
a difficult childhood
Kalvin Phillips with his mother and grandmother. Photo: Instagram.
Phillips, of Jamaican and Irish descent, is the perfect example of the midfielder box by box of the Premier League. Deployment, technique, good first pass and excellent punch. But before he passed he was quoting millions of dollars lived a difficult childhood.
His father has been in and out of jail many times. Drugs, robberies, street fights. He never really knew him. His upbringing was left to his mother and grandmother. “He was hungry at night to be able to feed us even though he had two jobs. The money did not reach him. I owe him a lot”, he confessed to his mother and the difficult economic situation he experienced.
Her grandmother, who died of Covid-19 in February last year, was her great heroine. Grandma Val had become a celebrity after her appearances Take us home, the documentary about Leeds. They had a very close relationship. He was what he always was in his childhood when his mother was working and his father was in prison.
In this tough story, Bielsa was like the father she never had. She held it in and out of the green grass. He reinvented him as an athlete and marked him as a person. “As many people can understand that those who tolerate frustration are stupid, for me Phillips is an example, not stupid. An addition: I am proud to be able to direct him”, condemned Marcelo Bielsa in 2019.
Source: Clarin
