Would Kalvin Phillips actually be a good signing for West Ham?: Analysis

West Ham have recently been linked with Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips for a fee of around £60 million.

There are rumours circulating that the Hammers will have plenty to spend this summer and the board don’t want to let a chance to consistently compete for Europe slip.

We analyse the pros and cons of signing the 26-year-old.

West Ham are believed to hold an interest in Leeds star Kalvin Phillips – would it be a smart transfer?

Let’s start with the positives, Phillips is an exceptional player. He breaks up the game so well with his tackling, has incredible stamina and is the definition of an engine in midfield. You notice how important he is to Leeds when he isn’t playing. He is more than just a hard-worker though, his passing and technical play is good too and he has Premier League experience.

A Phillips-Declan Rice midfield duo would be one of the best in the league.

They formed a fantastic partnership in Euro 2020 as England made the final. Rice held his defensive position highlighting his off the ball strengths while Phillips was the more attacking of the pair.

That leads us perfectly on to the negatives of signing him, firstly, Rice can probably attack better than him. We have seen the number 41 make a number of surging runs this season and he is no longer just a sitting midfielder who can’t carry the ball forward and can only pass sideways.

However, West Ham have lacked vertical progression and creativity in the middle often attacking out wide rather than through the lines. That’s why Manuel Lanzini has played so much and is so important to the side – he brings those playmaker attributes.

To improve as a team, West Ham need a central-midfielder capable of breaking the lines from deep. With Rice, Tomas Soucek and Phillips as a midfield three – none of them do that and they just don’t have the balance – we wouldn’t break a team down with that trio unless you had a Trent Alexander-Arnold type full-back being the creator from deep.

Phillips could be a Soucek replacement, the Czech captain‘s passing weakness has really shone this season as more opponents sit deep against West Ham. He is still a good player though with his strength, hard-work, defensive skills and eye for a goal. Therefore, spending so much of the summer budget on improving Soucek, meanwhile there are other ‘fires to put out’ like a buying quality new striker, feels like poor judgement and poor use of funds.

To conclude, I think Phillips is being looked at by West Ham, however, he would be the replacement if Rice was sold. David Moyes admitted the club must win trophies to keep hold of him and if he does go, for a fee that would need to be in excess of £100 million, signing Phillips for £60 million would be good business but signing him while holding onto Rice doesn’t make much sense unfortunately.