Leeds United: McGilligan wants Nat Phillips transfer on one condition

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Journalist Conor McGilligan has stated that he would want Leeds United to sign Liverpool Nat Phillips this summer as long as it is a loan move in order to not hinder Charlie Cresswell’s development next season.

Leeds have flown into the transfer window this summer with the acquisitions of Rasmus Kristensen, Brenden Aaronson, and Luis Sinisterra to name a few. However, it looks like they are not done as they could move for Liverpool’s Phillips.

Despite needing central defenders, McGilligan believes the Yorkshire club should only bring in Phillips on a loan deal for the season, with potentially an option to buy, so they do not damage the chances of starlet Cresswell breaking into the first team next season.

He said on the One Leeds Fan Channel: “Rumours are gathering that Leeds United are looking at Nat Phillips at Liverpool, which I think could be a really good signing. Bring him in on loan for 12 months. Don’t sign the guy maybe with an option to buy but don’t sign him at the end.

“Bring Cresswell back in a year’s time, in a season’s time I should say. And then Nat Phillips goes back and then Cresswell is here and he’s played his minutes and he’s ready to be challenging for that first team sport.”

TIF Thoughts on McGilligan’s comments…

We think Leeds need to bring in another centre-back ahead of next season as they only have Diego Llorente, Robin Koch, Pascal Struijk, and Liam Cooper in the squad at the time of writing and all of them could be improved on.

Phillips could be a good stop-gap for the Whites next season while they wait for a player like Cresswell to develop during his loan at Millwall. During his stint at Bournemouth, where they gained promotion to the Premier League, Phillips played 17 times and racked up 1,530 minutes.

It is unknown how much Phillips could end up costing Leeds if they were to bring him in on a permanent deal, but it has been suggested by Noel Whelan that it could be in the region of £15m.

This is a lot of money for a player who is fairly unproven at the Premier League level and therefore McGilligan’s proposal of a loan deal to bring some cover for next season could be the best idea, and it would also allow Cresswell to replace him next season.