Columnists

Simon Grayson: Perfect Sheffield United loan can revive Kalvin Phillips

If you’d told me four years ago that Kalvin Phillips would be back in the Championship at 30, I’d have said you were mad.

by
Simon Grayson
8 February 2026

If you'd told me four years ago that Kalvin Phillips would be back in the Championship at 30, I’d have said you were mad.

As a Leeds fan, I’d seen Kalvin flourish under the management of Marcelo Bielsa, who turned him from an orthodox central midfielder into a deep-lying playmaker.
He took to it like a duck to water, and his range of passing was a massive part of the Whites’ promotion to the Premier League in 2020.
Before long, he’d established himself as one of the best midfielders in the top flight, and was one of the first names on Gareth Southgate’s teamsheet.
Confidence
In 2021, he sta...

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