Leeds cannot get complacent if they want to avoid 2004 incident from repeating itself - opinion

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

A number of Leeds supporters’ worst nightmares would likely be one step closer to coming true as reports over the weekend linked Kalvin Phillips with a move to Old Trafford.

It’s no secret that Leeds fans love Phillips just as much as they hate Manchester United, and as a lifelong Whites fan you’d expect the midfielder to share the same sentiment towards the Red Devils.

However, we’ve been here before haven’t we?

What’s the story?

After the reports were published one Leeds fan quickly wrote them off due to their belief that Phillips is a lifelong Leeds fan and he’d never cross that divide as he’s previously spoken about his disdain towards the Red Devils.

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Yes, Phillips is a lifelong Whites supporter, and if anyone has seen the Amazon Prime documentary about the 2018/19 season it’s clear that the midfielder loves the Yorkshire club.

Hating Manchester United comes with the territory of supporting Leeds, but once the Red Devils come calling it’s hard to turn them down.

Been here before

As mentioned previously, we’ve been here before.

Alan Smith once stated that the one club he would never ever play for was Man United due to his affiliation towards Leeds.

Indeed, back when Soccer AM was actually a good show, Smith was asked if there was one club he would never play for, and he infamously said it was the club he then moved to.

The former footballer would eventually line up for the Premier League giants, signing for them almost as soon as Leeds were relegated.

Of course, the Whites are in a different place right now than in 2004, but so is the whole landscape of football.

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The money on offer in the Premier League is only growing, and if Leeds don’t go up this season it’s going to be tough for Phillips to turn down the pay packet that Man Utd could potentially offer him.

This isn’t to say the midfielder will be joining United, but after he signed a new deal, Leeds perhaps would feel confident about keeping him.

However, that shouldn’t be the case – plainly because they’ve been stung like this before.

They mustn’t get complacent.

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