Ipswich Town transfer shock will be like a dagger for Leeds United: View | OneFootball

Had Leeds won the play-off final last year, surely Kalvin Phillips would have returned to Elland Road this summer

Kalvin Phillips is set to join newly promoted Ipswich Town on loan from Manchester City, and Leeds United fans can be forgiven for thinking about what could have been.

The Telegraph's Mike McGrath has reported that the 31-cap England midfielder will join the Tractor Boys on a season-long loan as he bids to get his career back on track after a miserable few seasons at the Etihad Stadium.

Phillips came through the ranks at Leeds United before making his first-team debut for the club in 2014, and he spent a further eight years at Elland Road before departing for Man City in the summer of 2022 in a deal worth £45 million, but he's failed to live up to expectations with Pep Guardiola's side.

He spent the second half of the 2023/24 season on loan at West Ham, and he's set to join Ipswich Town this summer. However, it could have all been so different had Daniel Farke's side managed to win promotion last season.

Phillips had become a modern-day legend at Leeds, and whilst supporters were gutted to see him leave two years ago, they understood the reasons why he did.

However, what will hurt Leeds fans is knowing that he's joining Ipswich, a club that beat them to promotion, and it could have all been so different this summer.

Ipswich beat Leeds to automatic promotion on the final day of the season, finishing six points above them thanks to results on the final day, and Farke's side were instead forced to navigate the play-offs.

As we all know, Leeds and the play-offs don't get on, and it proved the case with Southampton beating the Whites 1-0 at Wembley to consign the side from Elland Road to another season of Championship football.

Had Leeds won promotion, there's little doubt that Phillips would be returning to the club this summer instead of moving to Ipswich, and whilst missing out on an immediate return to the Premier League was bad enough, seeing the 28-year-old join the side that beat them to automatic promotion will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Elland Road faithful.

Leeds supporters have remained hopeful that Phillips would one day make a return to the club, and whilst that might be the case in the future, it will hurt knowing that they were so close to winning promotion and signing him this summer.

Missing out on promotion would have haunted Leeds all summer, and news of Phillips joining Ipswich won't do anything to soften the blow.

Kalvin Phillips' 2022 Leeds United exit hasn't worked out well

Phillips' time at the Etihad Stadium has been a disaster, and he's played just 31 games for the club over the course of two seasons, starting just a handful of games, and it's clear that unless something drastic happens, he's got no future at the Etihad Stadium.

The 28-year-old has badly struggled for form in recent seasons, and his loan move to West Ham also failed to live up to expectations, playing just 10 games for the Hammers.

His recent form has been a fair cry from his days in the Premier League with Leeds, and despite being one of Gareth Southgate's most trusted players in years gone by, he wasn't selected in his squad for the Euros due to his poor form.

It's been tough for Leeds fans to watch Phillips' decline in form after he was so impressive at Elland Road, and the midfielder will be hoping that his move to Portman Road will give him a fresh start and a run of games.

Leeds can only look on as one of their favourite sons plays for a side that beat them to promotion, and it's going to hurt knowing that had they finished one place higher, he would have likely been playing for them now.