Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that Kalvin Phillips “would have been a great addition” to Dean Smith’s squad.
This comes after a recent interview where Phillips revealed he considered leaving Leeds United for Villa back in 2019 in a quest for Premier League football.
Marcelo Bielsa’s men have since gone on to win promotion to English football’s top flight to give Phillips what he craved, and the 25-year-old has managed to settle in nicely.
Phillips has thrived in his debut Premier League campaign, winning plaudits from pundits such as Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher.
He is a player admired by Hendrie, though he believes his former club have missed their opportunity to sign the England international.
Speaking exclusively to FFC about Phillips, Hendrie said:
“He would have been a great addition. I think trying to get him now, I don’t think he’d be in Villa’s category if I’m being particularly honest. I think if one of the top five wouldn’t jump at him, I’d stand on my head; I really would.
“I just feel that, you know, sometimes you miss the boat on situations and I feel that if Villa really forced the issue, they possibly could have from what Kalvin Phillips is saying, possibly could have got him at that stage.”
A regular under Bielsa since his arrival at Elland Road back in 2018, Phillips is clearly a very important player for his manager, so the Argentinian will no doubt be glad he decided to remain at the Yorkshire club in the end.