Aston Villa are interested in Leeds United's Kalvin Phillips ahead of the summer transfer window, two journalists have claimed. 

The lowdown

Leeds are in danger of being relegated back to the Championship, and that might well mean losing some of their star players.

The Whites are currently just two points above the bottom three, and they've played two games more than 18th-place Burnley.

Villa tried to sign Phillips three years ago following their promotion to the top-flight, with Leeds still in the Championship, but he opted to stay put.

Valued at £36million by Transfermarkt, the midfielder is under contract at Elland Road until the summer of 2024.

The latest

The Athletic's Gregg Evans writes that 'Villa are keen' to sign the 26-year-old, but warns that it will be a 'tough' deal to do.

If Leeds are relegated, it's more likely that he'll head to 'one of the elite clubs'.

Meanwhile, The Daily Mail's Tom Collomosse also says that Phillips is likely to be on Villa's list of summer targets.

The verdict

It's clear that Steven Gerrard is determined to land a top central midfielder this summer, with a host of big-money targets named in recent times.

Villa attempted to bring in Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus in January, but he wound up joining Spurs for a fee of up to £21.5million.

Yves Bissouma, apparently valued at around £50million by Brighton, is another who was on their radar last month.

Gerrard seems willing to commit a sizeable chunk of his budget to this area, perhaps in the belief that it holds the key to a European push next season.

In other news, Villa are due a fresh windfall.