By Mark Smith

9th Jan, 2020 | 6:45am

Leeds eye January deal for midfielder named club's player of the year last season - report

Leeds United are eyeing a deal for Oxford United midfielder Cameron Brannagan, according to journalist Mike McGrath.

The Telegraph journalist has suggested that manager Karl Robinson doesn’t want to lose the 23-year-old, but is prepared for bids after the former Liverpool man continued his sparkling form from last season at the Kassam Stadium.

Brannagan was voted Oxford’s player of the season last year, after making his move to the club in the January transfer market of 2018 for £203,000 [Transfermarkt].

The midfielder has already scored five goals and added a further three assists from his role in the middle of the park, proving he can also play more advanced.

With Robinson reluctant to sell Brannagan, it seems as if Leeds may have to splash the cash to change his mind in the next month.

Midfield is an area that is currently lacking strength in depth at Elland Road, with players such as Adam Forshaw, Pablo Hernandez, and Jamie Shackleton all not fully returning to training as of yet.

The Forshaw injury in particular, is proving particularly troublesome for Leeds with Phil Hay stating this could lead Leeds to look for a midfielder in January.

Brannagan has been one of Oxford’s standout players this season and could solve a potential headache for Marcelo Bielsa in the second half of the campaign.

There would be question marks around his ability though, given the fact that he only made a handful of senior appearances for Liverpool before moving to Fleetwood and Oxford.

Ben White managed to make the switch from League One to the Championship with significant ease this season though.

However, Leeds could be priced out of a deal with the financial fair play rules and a loan-to-buy deal might be their best bet this month.

In other Leeds United news, ‘Standout name’ – Ben Parker showers praise on ‘fantastic’ Leeds ace who started v Arsenal