Man Utd in Kalvin Phillips transfer blow as Leeds captain hints he will stay at Elland Road despite threat of relegation

MANCHESTER UNITED transfer target Kalvin Phillips has hinted he could stay at boyhood club Leeds despite the threat of relegation to the Championship.

The England international has posted a snap of himself to Twitter wearing the captain’s armband, accompanied with a blue and yellow hearts.

TWITTERPhillips wore the armband against Arsenal after Ayling was sent off[/caption]

Phillips has missed large parts of Leeds’ season through injuryREUTERS

The England international will be hoping to claw his boyhood club out of the relegation zoneGETTY

Phillips took up the armband at the weekend after starting captain Luke Ayling was sent off for a reckless challenge on Gabriel Martinelli.

Club captain Liam Cooper, of course, is still missing through injury but could return to action soon.

Phillips will most likely wear the captain’s armband against Chelsea on Wednesday night IF Cooper isn’t selected to take part.

According to the Daily Mail, a move to Leeds’ rivals United could be completely off the cards.

Phillips is keen to stay loyal to Leeds and a move to their rivals would risk ruining his relationship with his fellow fans.

The 26-year-old is also keen to sign a new deal but it’s unclear what impact relegation might have on it.

The trip to the European champions is a must-win game for Leeds, who find themselves inside the bottom three with three games to go.

Burnley are just above them on goal difference and relegation rivals Everton are just one point ahead.

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Leeds will follow up Wednesday’s game with a home game against high-flying Brighton and then finish the season with a trip to Brentford.

Whites boss Jesse Marsch expects the relegation battle to go right down to the final game of the season.

The American said: “I expected it, eight games ago, to go to the final day at Brentford.

“The league is so competitive, and so tight, that it was hard to imagine a situation where it wasn’t going to come down to the wire for us and a lot of other teams.

“It’s interesting what Ralph Hasenhuttl said about 40 points maybe not being enough to stay up.

“It could be true, but I’m not planning for anything other than the next match and staying in this league.

“There is a singular focus and that’s the best phrase I can use – a singular focus on the job in hand.

“I’ve had some conversations with the players and I don’t sense anything other than a total focus, so there is no flippancy or distraction of any kind.

“We know that it’s going to take all our intellectual, emotional and physical energy to achieve our goal.

“I also want the fans to feel like they are part of our team and that they are right next to us along the way.”