Sheffield United’s chase for a former loanee appears to be bearing fruit according to reports
Sheffield United appear to be striking a deal to bring Kalvin Phillips back to Bramall Lane.
The Manchester City midfielder spent part of last season on loan at United before being sent off in the derby victory over Sheffield Wednesday and subsequently suffered an injur that would keep him out for the remainder of the season.
Blades fans never really got to see the best of Phillips, who has been dogged by injury since leaving Leeds and heading to Manchester in 2022, but boss Chris Wilder was suitably impressed so as to make the England international a summer target for a return.
The 30-year-old has been left out of City’s pre-season tour of Hong Kong and Seoul, where they will play Inter Milan, K-League All Stars and Atletico Madrid, despite the tour party being without the players who took part in this summer’s World Cup.
Phillips played just seven minutes for City last season, coming on as a substitute in the Carabo Cup and has started just two Premier League matched since a fee of around £40million was handed over to Leeds in 2022 to take him to the Etihad.
He has since had loan spells at West Ham, Ipswich and last season at United.
Wilder admitted that the club had worked hard on a deal to bring Phillips to Bramall Lane and it’s likely they will have had to do the same again this time around.
The Blades boss said at the time: “Just to let people know, we’re not paying full wage recovery as people understand it. It’s a deal that Steve Bettis did, which was a brilliant deal for the football club.”