A Kalvin Phillips documentary entitled ‘The Road To City’ has been released on Amazon – and Andrea Radrizzani is seen discussing the sale of Kalvin Phillips to Manchester City from Leeds, with Paraag Marathe and Angus Kinnear.
Phillips, 27, completed a move to Manchester City from Leeds in July 2022. He has since struggled with the Premier League champions, undergoing shoulder surgery. But, they did win the treble as Phillips warmed the City bench.
Leeds eventually raked in a fee of £42m, plus £3m in future add-ons, for Phillips. A fee that many deemed below what Leeds fans felt they could get for the England midfielder. Clearly, Radrizzani initially agreed with supporters.
He is seen staging a meeting with now-chairman Marathe, who at the time was a minority shareholder – and CEO Kinnear, who remains. He talks about selling Phillips for £70m, and seeing him as our captain for the next five years.
“The scenario, we hope for the best. I would never sell Kalvin. But, the money could be £65m or £70m. With £65m we could buy a striker, two midfielders,” Radrizzani said, on Amazon Prime’s Phillips documentary, The Road To City.
“I would like him to stay longer. We need another striker. In my heart, I want to keep him – but the best decision is to sell. I see Kalvin as the captain for the next five years. Very complicated decision,” Radrizzani added, to Kinnear.
Radrizzani discusses Phillips sale from Leeds on The Road To City doc
It is interesting to see that Radrizzani was keen to keep Phillips – but knew that the best decision would be to sell him and bring in replacements. Unfortunately, those replacements did not go to plan. Leeds have been relegated.
Leeds did not receive full whack for Phillips and here, Radrizzani openly admits that. Also, it shows that Phillips’ sale was pre-planned – but it is also interesting that Radrizzani saw Phillips as a future captain at Leeds. All hypothetical.
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