Kalvin Phillips may not like new Leeds United, Tomas Soucek development | OneFootball

Leeds United reportedly want to sign Tomas Soucek from West Ham United and that could be a blow to Kalvin Phillips' ambitions.

On Easter Monday, it was confirmed that Leeds United had gained automatic promotion back to the Premier League following Burnley’s 2-1 defeat of Sheffield United at Turf Moor ,a couple of hours after Leeds had dispatched of Stoke City by six goals to nil at Elland Road.

With the title still on the line in the final couple of weeks of this season, it has been a busy week of news at Leeds with reports suggesting Daniel Farke could still be sacked by the club ahead of their return to the top-flight.

Following on from that, it has also now been suggested that the Yorkshire giants are interested in signing Czechia international midfielder Tomas Soucek from West Ham United amid other reports that link the Hammers with Leeds duo Ethan Ampadu and Mateo Joseph.

If Leeds are to bring in Soucek this summer then it would surely be bad news for Kalvin Phillips, with the England international midfielder said to be ‘desperate’ to return to Elland Road.

It would, though, appear unlikely that Leeds would move for another defensive midfield option should Soucek arrive and that would throw a spanner into the works of the career of Phillips, who is looking to get himself back on track.

Leeds’ midfield options and possibilities

Leeds have been excellent at dominating their opposition throughout the campaign simply by almost never giving the ball away and owning the middle of the pitch in terms of possession and that has

stemmed from Wales international Ampadu as well as the impressive Ao Tanaka.

Adding Soucek to the mix would provide further depth and cover alongside the likes of Bulgaria international Ilia Gruev. Joe Rothwell’s future is up in the air having joined on loan from AFC Bournemouth last summer, whilst Joshua Guilavogui is out of contract this summer.

Depth remains at Elland Road, especially with players able to fill in out of position such as Pascal Struijk but it does remain an area of the pitch that they reportedly seek to strengthen having been linked with Tanaka’s Japan international teammate Hidemasa Morita of Sporting CP and experienced German Julian Weigl.

However, signing Soucek as well as potentially keeping Rothwell would bolster that area of the squad to the point of making what would be the emotional return of Phillips seem extremely unlikely.

Phillips’ career decline

When Kalvin Phillips left Leeds after being a cornerstone of the side that had reached the Premier League and then stayed up, his stock was as high as he could have ever had imagined.

A key man in an England side that had reached the final of UEFA EURO 2020 and a move to Manchester City, where he would play a small part in winning the treble.

However, it was a small part and his playing time became so little that he ended up on loan at West Ham last season before spending this season on loan at Ipswich Town but often finding himself behind Samy Morsy and Jens Cajuste in Kieran McKenna’s pecking order.

As he seeks to rebuild his career, a move back home to Leeds may well be the tonic for the 29-year-old defensive midfielder but even that now appears to be unlikely as the Whites look set to target others.