Exclusive: David Prutton backs Kalvin Phillips, Leeds United reunion on one condition | OneFootball

Sky Sports pundit David Prutton spoke exclusively to Football League World about a potential Leeds United return for Kalvin Phillips

Leeds United will be eager to get to work on the transfer front as they bid to build a squad capable of competing in the Premier League after their promotion alongside Burnley was sealed at the second time of asking last weekend.

Daniel Farke, or whoever is in charge come the summer, will likely be backed with something of a transfer warchest as owners the 49ers look to flex their financial muscles and go head-to-head with the big boys in the 2025/26 top-flight campaign.

As ever, a host of players are being linked with, and will continue to be, a move to Elland Road this summer, yet one name in particular seemingly has not gone away for much of the campaign.

Kalvin Phillips, who left Leeds for Manchester City in an ill-fated £42.5 million switch nearly three years ago, has been routinely linked with a sensational homecoming to his boyhood club and, with the Whites having now sealed their Premier League status for next season, any potential deal could well head underway in the coming weeks and months.

According to a report published in The Mirror, Phillips is 'desperate' to return to Leeds this summer. He has been surplus to requirements under Pep Guardiola, spending the last two seasons on loan with Ipswich Town and West Ham United, and has only chalked up 16 Premier League appearances for the Citizens.

The midfielder, who boasts 31 caps for England but has not represented his country in more than a year, has seen his career nosedive since leaving West Yorkshire and Leeds now face a decision on whether to capitalise on his own interest in a move and bring him back to where it all started.

David Prutton's verdict on potential Leeds United, Kalvin Phillips reunion

Sky Sports pundit and EFL expert David Prutton believes that Leeds would welcome Phillips home with "open arms" if he can once again emulate the kind of form which earned his move to Man City in the first place.

That's a big if, of course, and in Prutton's view, any move will ultimately hinge on whether Leeds believe the midfielder is capable of rediscovering his top form.

"It would be the homecoming, wouldn't it, of one of their former idols," Prutton explained when speaking exclusively to Football League World.

"It's a tough one, because a lot of people look at Phillips and say 'why did he move on from Leeds United?'

"I think if Man City come calling, it's very hard not to [leave] not just from a footballing point of view but, to be brutally cynical, from a financial point of view because you're not just setting yourself up, you can create generational wealth.

"You would hope that has been the case, obviously the playing time has been limited. I think the comparisons with Rodri are a bit unfair. Rodri is one of a kind, 99% of footballers on the planet wouldn't live up to what Rodri has set as a standard.

"Obviously he's had loan spells, which have been nowhere near fruitful enough.

So Phillips' last few years will have been as frustrating for him as anyone who has followed his career, it needs to get back on track as he possibly enters the final third and he needs game time.

"Whether Leeds would want him back remains to be seen, he's certainly cut it at Premier League level with them. It's whether they can afford him now, he'll have a different level of earning potential and going rate.

I think given how beloved he was at Leeds - they're not fond of people who leave for 'bigger and better teams' - but with Phillips, if they can get back to that form he showed under [Marcelo] Bielsa, a lot has changed, of course, then that type of England international Phillips you would welcome with open arms.

"It's just about whether that has changed and whether he can get back to those heights."

Kalvin Phillips would face stiff competition at Leeds United in 25/26

Phillips was vitally important at Leeds during Bielsa's rein in charge, with the Argentine's high-tempo, possession-based style very much revolving around the way that the midfield star could dictate the tempo and regain the ball in swift fashion when needed.

Leeds, however, are now of a different tactical make-up under Farke, who has an extremely strong midfield double-pivot at his disposal. Ethan Ampadu has partnered Joe Rodon at the heart of the side's defence at times this season, but will likely be pushed back up into midfield in the Premier League.

There, Leeds have Ao Tanaka, who is arguably the best player in the Championship this term.

A midfield pairing of Ampadu and Tanaka is already top-flight standard and Phillips could find it hard to break into that and displace one of the two, although that's not to say he would not still be a good signing for supplementing potentially-crucial strength in depth.