Leeds United fans’ hopes of Kalvin Phillips returning are wearing thin, but no doubt the ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’ has great memories from his time at the club.
Leeds fans were hoping that Phillips would make an extraordinary return to the Whites this summer.
At one point, it looked like Phillips had a verbal agreement with Leeds, and the reunion very much looked like it was happening.
However, this has since been shut down as Leeds can’t afford Phillips’ wages, and it was no doubt nice while it lasted.
Nevertheless, he had a great tenure with the club but chose to avoid a former teammate who was known for his passionate playing style.
Kalvin Phillips names who he stayed away from at Leeds United
During his first spell, Phillips had some fantastic names to play with; Pablo Hernandez, Stuart Dallas, and Raphinha are just a few.
However, none of these names come as passionate with their football as Gaetano Berardi, who was an excellent servane for the club.
The Swiss full-back was as aggressive as they came, and Berardi is taking that aggression into coaching.
Well, Phillips claimed it was an injury waiting to happen if you came up against Berardi in training, with the midfielder saying he avoided the former Leeds star to Soccer AM’s Teammates in 2020.
“You don’t want to get on the wrong side of him,” Phillips said.
“You’d wake up in the morning, say hello to Berardi, and if he’s in a bad mood, you’d stay away from him.
“He’s a good guy, but he clatters everyone in training; he wears his heart on his sleeve.”
Berardi played his part in costing Leeds promotion in 2019
It turns out Berardi didn’t learn his lesson about being aggressive in the season before, as he made a fatal error in 2019.
Berardi was always consistent at Leeds but this incident wouldn’t of let him looking the best, and Phillips no doubt would’ve certainly avoided him.
When the Whites faced Derby County in 2019 with the famous second-leg victory for Frank Lampard, Berardi had a nightmare.
The Leeds full-back got sent off after a harsh tackle on Bradley Johnson, as Berardi claimed it was his only regret at Leeds.
With Phillips speaking in 2020, the Swiss never stopped his attitude to playing, but that was definitely a moment Berardi wants to wipe from his memory.
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