23-year-old defensive midfielder Kalvin Phillips has been an important cog in Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United machine so far, with Phillips recently being linked with a move away from West Yorkshire.

Norwich City, AFC Bournemouth and Southampton are all in a three-way race to secure the signature of the English midfielder. Phillips may look for a move away from the club to guarantee himself a place in the Premier League, after just missing out on promotion with Leeds United in the play-off semi final this year.

A move to the Premier League could boost the chances of the midfielder being considered for a England call up in the future. However, he may be persuaded by Marcelo Bielsea to stay for another season to have one more shot at Championship promotion with Leeds United.

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If Phillips does move on to the Premier League this summer, it's essential that Leeds adequately replace him if they are to have a good chance of getting to the top flight next season.

Here's three players that could move to Elland Road if Phillips goes in the other direction...

Massimo Luongo

The Australian defensive midfielder has performed consistently well for Queens Park Rangers in the time he's been in London.

However, his team have finished in a lower mid-table position over the past few seasons. Luongo may not want to settle for mid-table mediocrity any longer and this could help Leeds United in their potential pursuit for a defensive midfielder if Kalvin Phillips does depart Elland Road.

The barrier to this signing for Leeds is the fact that the central midfielder will not come cheap, being without doubt one of QPR's key players. He's also an Australian international, increasing his market value even further.

Even though the sale of Phillips could generate the necessary funds needed for Leeds United to go ahead and make this signing, it's also questionable whether Luongo will want to relocate from London. The ambition of Leeds United could persuade the Australian international to make the move to Elland Road.

Saeid Ezatolahi

This is a name which won't be familiar to the vast majority of Leeds United fans. However, the Iranian central midfielder could be a gamble worth taking for The Whites.

The central midfielder was injured for the majority of the time he was on loan at Reading last season, when he made the loan move from Russian top tier side FC Rostov. However, he impressed many Reading fans in the games that they did see him play.

One major benefit of making this move is that Ezatolahi is available on a free this summer with the expiration of his contract at Rostov. Considering he was loaned out in the last season of his contract, he's unlikely to sign another deal with the Russian side, which could make teams sit up and take interest in the 22-year-old.

Joe Ledley

This is another free signing that Leeds United could make.

The 32-year-old Welshman has been out of contract since January, meaning that the likelihood is that he's severely lacking match fitness. He would also most likely be a short term signing for Leeds United, with Ledley reaching twilight years of his career.

Despite those two cons of signing him, he has years of Premier League and Championship experience which will allow Ledley to bring something different to the table at Elland Road.

His attitude is also impressive, terminating his contract with Derby County in January this year because he wanted to go and play football. He told the BBC that he wanted to "continue his career." Leeds United could be the club that give him that opportunity.