Leeds and Southampton set for Sheffield Utd and Rangers transfer battle | OneFootball

Leeds United and Southampton are both keen on signing West Ham United defender Ben Johnson this month.

That is according to Football Insider, who report that the 23-year-old could depart the London Stadium on loan ahead of the February 1st transfer deadline.

Both of the promotion-chasing sides are clearly keen on strengthening their defensive ranks this month as they seek an immediate Premier League return.

Leeds United are particularly keen, according to the report, given that Johnson can operate at the back on either flank.

The Whites are said to be wanting to strengthen at both left and right-back during the winter window.

Leeds and Southampton face strong competition to sign Johnson

Unfortunately for Leeds and Southampton, though, they are not only battling it out between themselves to sign Johnson.

Instead, they face strong competition from top-flight clubs elsewhere.

According to the Football Insider report, Premier League outfit Sheffield United are keen on signing Johnson as they look to fight for their top-flight survival, whilst elsewhere, Scottish giants Rangers are also keen on snapping up the Hammers defender.

Ben Johnson's situation at West Ham United

The above report comes at a time when Ben Johnson finds himself in somewhat of a tricky situation at West Ham.

Currently, the young defender has just six months left on his current deal, with his contract due to expire at the end of June this year.

At present, no new deal looks to be on the horizon, with reports suggesting that the 23-year-old has turned down several offers from the club to extend his stay in East London.

Johnson has likely opted to make that decision due to the fact he is not receiving very much game time under David Moyes at present.

So far this season, for example, he has turned out just six times for West Ham's senior team, with just two of those appearances coming in the Premier League.

This comes after a decent campaign for the Hammers appearance-wise last season, in which Johnson racked up 29 appearances in claret and white.

17 of those came in the Premier League, with a further six coming in the Hammers' Europa Conference League winning campaign.

Johnson has made a total of 93 senior appearances for the Hammers to date having come through their youth ranks before progressing to the first team.