The latest news coming out surrounding Kalvin Phillips at Leeds United could ultimately have a couple of impacts.

According to journalist David Anderson, Leeds United have received a ‘big boost’, as it appears Phillips has indicated to the Leeds United board that he wants to stay. Taking to Twitter, Anderson stated: “Big boost for Leeds after Kalvin Phillips tells the board he wants to sign a new deal in the summer.”

Phillips, who has been described as Leeds United’s ‘lynchpin’ in the past, has been hot property for some time now, with exit links going back as far as the 2019 summer transfer window. And having become a regular for England on top of that – starting all of their games at last summer’s European Championship – that interest was only going to increase.

Now though, it looks as if his future, for the foreseeable future at least, will be at Elland Road rather than elsewhere.

A potential change of heart for Raphinha?

In a report about the situation, Anderson also mentioned that Raphinha could be in line for a new deal come the end of the season, saying: “Leeds are prepared to make Raphinha their best-paid player in the club’s history.” This shows that Leeds United are not backing down over the matter, and are not willing to let two of their best players go without a fight.

And, who knows, it may well be that Raphinha has a change of heart and decides to stick it out for one more year, where Leeds, hopefully with better luck on the injury front, might be able to recreate the form that made them so exciting last season.

Indeed, seeing that his fellow teammate is now setting his sights on a new deal could end up persuading the Brazilian to be more open to staying at Elland Road. Phillips has always been quick to big up Raphinha even whilst he is on international duty and live on Sky Sports after he grabbed his first goal for the club in a game against Everton, so seeing such an influential player (as described below) stay at the club could open his eyes.

And, Dean Jones even claimed recently that there is a possibility that Raphinha will stay as well as Kalvin Phillips amid speculation around where the pair could end up.

Jesse Marsch will be buzzing

Marsch will no doubt be buzzing about Phillips’ desire to stay at the club given how impressive he’s been at Elland Road in the current campaign despite injury troubles. He still ranks in the top 10 for player rating per game, with 2.3 tackles, 1.2 interceptions, 1 clearance, 1.6 dribbles, 52.5 average passes and a success rate of 82.9% per game (as per WhoScored).

Indeed, despite his injury woes this season, Phillips revealed he was still playing a key role behind-the-scenes at Leeds United, with the midfielder trying to keep the mood up in the camp and making players happy, so it’s clear to see that he’s a big presence in the dressing room at Elland Road.

The Leeds manager also has bigger plans for the midfielder with him wanting him to take on even more of a leadership role at the club, so it’s clear he wants him to stay and have a big impact on the future of the club.

TIF Verdict…

If Leeds United are able to get these two deals over the line and keep hold of the two of them for next season, then it should give Leeds United boss Jesse Marsch an incredible lift heading into the summer and the start of next season.

Having been given a tough task when he took over, to be able to start afresh at the start of the new season with two very influential players at his disposal will give him a huge helping hand in trying to stabilise next season and to make sure that they don’t get dragged into it once more.

In other news: Unreal: Leeds may have another star on their hands as footage of 17 y/o emerges – opinion