Birmingham City are showing a transfer interest in the midfielder released to Celtic and Rangers

Birmingham City are among the clubs interested in Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Marc Leonard, Birmingham Live understand.

Leonard is attracting transfer interest after a stellar campaign in League One with Northampton Town, where he scored five goals and registered six assists. The 22-year-old has spent the last two seasons on loan with Premier League side Brighton Cobblers and could leave for good now that he has entered the final 12 months of his contract.

The Blues are looking for durable footballers this summer and Leonard was virtually an ever-present in League One last season. He started all 46 games for 14th-placed Northampton, playing 4,130 of a possible 4,140 minutes.

It is claimed that a fee of £300,000 could be enough to capture Leonard, but the Blues are not alone in their admiration. Championship sides Sheffield United and Oxford United have been linked with Leonard, as have the Blues’ League One rivals Wrexham.

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The Scotland Under-21 starlet was even introduced to Celtic and Rangers, who he represented in his youth, by his former Northampton manager Jon Brady. Brady told the Daily Record: “I feel for the here and now and long term I would say Marc Leonard is one that both Rangers and Celtic should be looking at.

“I know both teams have a lot of talent in midfield, but Marc is an outstanding young Scottish player. I think he can go all the way to the top and if Rangers or Celtic were to come in for him then I feel he has the talent to flourish for either side.

“He’s overtaking us now and rightly so. There’s a lot of interest in him from the Championship. Certainly, with the ability he’s got, for me he needs to be tested, at least in the Championship. He’d be a huge asset to any team in that league.

“The improvement in him has been scary. He came in as a very good technical player, but now he’s gone up so many levels. He’s risen to all the challenges we’ve thrown at him and in the end he’s just caught the games from the noise. neck and being a real difference maker He came in as a young player but left Northampton as a man.”

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