It’s the summer of 2019 and it’s decision time for Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips.
After a breakthrough year under Marcelo Bielsa at Elland Road, the hometown boy was attracting interest from newly-promoted Premier League outfit Aston Villa.
It was a tempting proposition for Phillips whose Leeds team had fallen agonisingly short in the Championship play-offs, losing in a heart-breaking semi-final to Derby County.
Ironically, Villa were the team to beat Derby at Wembley to seal promotion back to the big time after their incredible rise up the league under new manager Dean Smith.
It was a make or break period for the Whites who were licking their wounds having looked promotion certainties for most of the season.
Thankfully, the hierarchy at Elland Road had already persuaded manager Bielsa to spend another season in West Yorkshire after the Argentine transformed an average squad into promotion contenders.
But that wouldn’t decide the future of Phillips, a player Bielsa had brought the best out of after changing him into a holding midfielder prior to the season.
It was a masterstroke that saw him become one of the best players in the league, which inevitably led to speculation about his future when Leeds failed to win promotion.
But this was more than speculation with Villa intent on bringing Phillips to the Midlands, making numerous big-money offers, the last believed to be north of £25m.
Although Leeds have a history of letting their best players leave, they were insistent on not allowing another homegrown commodity to slip through the net.
Phillips’ importance on the team was undeniable and allowing him to leave could halt another promotion attempt before a ball was kicked.
However, as we all know in the modern game, if a player wants to leave then the likelihood is that he will.
And, speaking as part of a feature with Arsenal legend Ian Wright on Football Focus, Phillips revealed he would have probably joined Aston Villa if his late grandmother Val Crosby had not got involved.
“The season we didn’t get promoted and we got knocked out in the play-offs – I was gutted man,” Phillips told Wright on the streets of Armley where he grew up.
“I told her about Aston Villa being in touch and she was like ‘oh no, you are not doing that.’
“I was like ‘what do you mean? It’s a chance to play Premier League football, I have always wanted to do it.’
“She said ‘you have been at Leeds for ten years now, you were this close to going up, why not give it one more shot to try and make it up, try and do something that Leeds fans and your family will never forget and stick it out.'”
Phillips was wise to listen to the advice of Granny Val as he committed to the club and signed a new five-year deal in September 2019.
By September the following year Leeds were backing in the Premier League after storming to the Championship title and Phillips was named in the England squad.
It was an excellent 12-month period for the Whites Academy graduate who has gone from strength to strength since, helping Leeds to thrive in their first season back in the top flight.
Now an England regular and with his Leeds team sitting above former suitors Aston Villa in the league table, Phillips’ decision to stay was undoubtedly the right one.
Sadly the woman who had a huge impact on that decision, Granny Val, passed away in February, however her influence should never be forgotten, with her grandson now a Leeds United legend forever.
