Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle handed potential Brighton transfer boost | OneFootball

With the summer transfer window now fast approaching, one player who is already the subject of much speculation is Brighton's Marc Leonard.

The midfielder has spent the last two seasons on loan with Northampton Town, helping them win promotion from League Two in 2023, and then re-establish themselves in League One this time round.

His performances have already seen him linked with a number of clubs elsewhere in the Football League.

According to previous reports from The Athletic, Championship sides such as Swansea City, Cardiff City, Preston North End, Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle have all shown an interest in the 22-year-old.

It was also claimed that Brighton are open to selling Leonard in the summer, in order to cash in on him.

However, reports last month suggested separate links claiming that newly crowned League One champions Portsmouth are interested in Leonard are wide of the mark.

Now, the stance of another team to have been linked with the Brighton midfielder, also appears to have become clearer.

Swansea stance on Marc Leonard revealed

According to the latest update from Wales Online, Leonard is not currently considered to be a serious target for Swansea at this moment in time.

As a result, with Portsmouth having seemingly also been ruled out of the race for the Brighton youngster this summer, the door may now be open for those other linked Championship clubs to swoop for his services.

Currently, Leonard is set to enter the final year of his contract with Brighton in the summer. The Premier League side do have the option to extend that deal by a further 12 months.

However, if they are open to selling him in the summer, it would seem unlikely they will do so.

An excellent season for Leonard

Leonard has certainly impressed for Northampton since making the step up to League One with them in the summer.

He has scored five goals and provided six assists in 44 league appearances for the club, helping them to 11th place in the current standings.

Indeed, Northampton manager Jon Brady recently claimed that Leonard is among the best to ever wear the club's shirt, ahead of his final few appearances for the Cobblers.

Clubs should take advantage of Swansea's Marc Leonard stance

With Swansea seemingly out of the race for Leonard as well, it does seem as though other teams ought to be ready to move quickly when the transfer window opens.

Given the both the Swans and Portsmouth are seemingly not interested in the Brighton man, there is going to be less competition for his services.

Considering how good his performances suggest he could be, that ought to be welcome news for the likes of Coventry and Plymouth in the race for his services.

This is a chance for them to secure the signing of a player who looks as though he could go on to become a big asset for the future.

With the level of interest there has been in him as well, this would also be something of a coup for one of these sides.

So with all that in mind, the fact they may have two less teams to contend with if Swansea and Portsmouth are not targeting Leonard right now, this does feel like an extra boost for the likes of Coventry, Cardiff, Preston and Plymouth before the window opens.