The £60m horror signing that Aston Villa will be glad they avoided under Steven Gerrard with Boubacar Kamara joining instead
Aston Villa tried to sign Kalvin Phillips on three separate occasions but will be glad to have avoided that move based on his recent career trajectory
The 2022 transfer window was Steven Gerrard’s first and only summer, in what ultimately proved to be an underwhelming 11-month stint at Villa Park.
During that window Aston Villa’s transfer activity varied - there were wonderful signings such as the free agent capture of Boubacar Kamara, who has since gone on to make more than 100 appearances for the club, including 10 in the Champions League - a competition few Villa fans could have imagined they’d end up playing in if you asked them at the time.
However, mistakes were also made in that window which resulted in the club’s lacklustre start to the campaign such as Philippe Coutinho’s marquee arrival from Barcelona for £17m, and Leander Dendoncker for £13m with both players moving for a loss.
But Villa’s biggest blessing in disguise was the fact that they didn’t end up paying a club-record £60m on bringing Kalvin Phillips to Villa Park.
How Aston Villa nearly signed Kalvin Phillips
According to Telegraph Sport in June 2022, Aston Villa were preparing a club-record £60m offer to sign Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United. The Yorkshire-born midfielder had been named England’s Player of the Year in 2021 after reaching the final of the European Championships, and was one of the most in-demand players in the country after captaining Leeds United to safety.
Steven Gerrard, a former recipient himself of England’s Player of the Year award, wanted to bring Phillips to Villa Park and saw him as his NO.1 target as Carney Chukwuemeka edged closer to his move to Chelsea.
It wasn’t the first time Villa had tried to sign Phillips after missing out on him following promotion in 2019, but this was the move that Gerrard’s entire summer plan looked to be centred on.
Admittedly things could have gone differently for Phillips if he’d have chosen Villa as opposed to the £45m move he eventually ended up making to Manchester City. But most will be glad, particularly from a PSR perspective that the club landed on Boubacar Kamara instead - signing the French international on a free transfer from Marseille and ultimately getting their hands on one of the signings of that particular summer.
What’s gone wrong for Kalvin Phillips?
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where it’s gone wrong for Kalvin Phillips over the last three and a half years. It was easy, during his 18 fruitless months at Manchester City, to be seduced by the idea that the Yorkshireman was still a fine player and all he needed was to start playing again.
Villa very nearly fell into that trap and had apparently pushed to sign him on loan in 2024 to boost squad depth ahead of the Champions League, before Ipswich Town with the added incentive of regular first team football signed him instead.
Phillips had already struggled during a six-month stint at West Ham on loan. But most attributed that to his lack of match fitness. However, at Ipswich the poor performances continued and he unfortunately looked a long way off looking like one of the top players in a team which attained just 22 points.
The former Leeds man is still under contract at Manchester City and is a player that they’ll struggle to recoup much money for, in a frustrating set of circumstances from a PSR perspective.
He’s made one appearance (his first in 645 days) for City this season in a League Cup win over Huddersfield, but has otherwise not made the matchday squad at all yet this season.