New claim made on how Patrick Bamford influenced Kalvin Phillips, Sheffield United transfer | OneFootball

Leeds United hero Kalvin Phillips has revealed the extent to Patrick Bamford urging him to reunite at Bramall Lane with Sheffield United.

Patrick Bamford and Kalvin Phillips spent four seasons playing together for Leeds United under Marcelo Bielsa, with the pair now reunited at Bramall Lane with Sheffield United.

Kalvin Phillips joined Leeds United at the age of 15, making his debut in 2014 professionally. Patrick Bamford was signed by Middlesbrough in the summer of 2018, which was mere months after Marcelo Bielsa's arrival.

They both had an incredible rise under the Argentine, hitting new heights in their careers at Elland Road. That's despite Chris Wilder, during his first stint at Bramall Lane, pipping the Whites to an automatic promotion place alongside Norwich City.

In 2021, Bamford collected his one and only England cap, with Phillips an unused substitute in a 4-0 win against Andorra. However, their four memorable campaigns in West Yorkshire bonded them as friends, with a reliable core at Elland Road.

Luke Ayling, now of Middlesbrough, was among them. It was somewhat of a reunion for him on Monday night as well, with Boro travelling to face the Blades at Bramall Lane in a huge Championship fixture.

Leeds United hero Kalvin Phillips makes Patrick Bamford claim at Sheffield United

Prior to the game, Leeds hero Phillips spoke to Sky Sports. Asked what he wants to achieve during his loan spell at Bramall Lane, and about Bamford’s role in joining, Phillips responded: “I think selfishly, just play as many games as possible.

“Closer to home, like I’ve said before, and just to enjoy my football again. I played last year and got injured towards the end. But, yeah, I just want to play football again. That’s the only other thing.

“To be fair, he did message me about two months before the January transfer window and asked the question.

“I just said, ‘well, you never know what happens’. But, yeah, Pat did play a big role in that.”

On a potential play-off tilt, which took a blow after a 2-1 defeat to Boro, Phillips added: “Yeah, 100%. I think the caliber of player we’ve got in the squad — we can do that. There’s no reason why we can’t.

“We’ve got a lot of belief in the changing room, from what I’ve seen so far. We’ve got some good players. We’ve been doing well recently, so I’m just looking forward to tonight and looking forward to the atmosphere. We’ll see what happens.”

Phillips and Joe Rothwell have commented on Bamford's influence already, but it seems that the heroic Leeds striker has been plotting for far longer than his current club even were in regard to Phillips.

Kalvin Phillips' influence could be as impactful as Patrick Bamford's at Sheffield United

Phillips' Man City wages will have him among the highest paid players in the division, even if Sheffield United are only covering a fraction of the overall cost for the remainder of 2025/26.

Phillips will have to play his way into Wilder's best XI, but it's a huge outlay which has been put down to bring the 30-year-old to the club. A play-off berth has to be their aim, with no realistic aim of retaining some of these players without it.

Phillips' class was shown with the pass in the build-up to Gus Hamer playing in Bamford against Boro, but it is their experience in the dressing room which could be even more crucial in the final third of the campaign.

He has 168 appearances in either the Championship or the play-offs, but it may not matter if Sheffield United cannot break into them by putting the most recent game swiftly behind them.