Swansea and Cardiff City set for January transfer battle over League One midfielder | OneFootball

Highlights

Bitter South Wales rivals Cardiff City and Swansea have already done battle once this season when the Bluebirds ran out 2-0 winners at the Cardiff City Stadium in September, but they could be about to come to blows once more.

Not on the pitch though, but in the transfer market as it has been claimed that they are eyeing up the same player.

Cardiff of course can spend transfer fees once more in January after restrictions were lifted from them, and according to Football Insider, they are keen on Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Marc Leonard.

But they are set to be rivalled, ironically, by their biggest rivals in the form of Michael Duff's Swans, who also hold a live interest in the 21-year-old ahead of the transfer window re-opening in just over one months time.

Who is Marc Leonard?

Leonard swapped Heart of Midlothian for Brighton in 2018, making the move to England at the age of just 16 to link up with the Seagulls' academy.

Three years later, Leonard made his professional debut for Brighton when coming on against Cardiff in an EFL Cup match, but he is still yet to make his Premier League debut for the club.

Instead, they loaned him out for the entirety of the 2022-23 season, giving him the chance to develop his craft with Northampton Town.

The Scotland youth international played in all-but one League Two match last season as he won promotion to the third tier of English football with the Cobblers, proving to be a real force in Jon Brady's engine room.

And Brighton were so delighted with Leonard's progress that they sent him back to Sixfields before the current campaign began, and he has played in every single League One match to date so far.

Leonard's performances have clearly not gone unnoticed though as Championship clubs are now circling ahead of the market re-opening, and that could spell bad news for Northampton.

Marc Leonard's Brighton & Hove Albion contract situation?

Even though he is on to Northampton for the rest of the 2023-24 season, there's no reason as to why Brighton couldn't terminate the agreement with the Cobblers should a permanent offer come in for Leonard in January.

Currently, Leonard is contracted at the Seagulls until the summer of 2025 officially, but effectively Brighton retain his registration until June 2026 with their optional one-year extension.

With the likelihood of the Scotsman breaking into Roberto De Zerbi's first-team plans in the near future though, there could be scope for the south coast club to cash in on the midfielder if there is significant interest come January, as they could land a decent fee and also apply a sell-on clause in the process.