Football
Exclusive: Birmingham City Keen to Keep Marc Leonard Despite Growing Interest from Blackburn and QPR
Birmingham City are determined to keep hold of Scottish midfielder Marc Leonard, despite interest from several clubs. Leonard's impressive performances last season have attracted attention, but the Blues are reluctant to let him go, especially as they aim to establish themselves in the Championship once again. Speculation about a move to Barnsley is unfounded, and the club views Leonard as a key player for the upcoming season.
Peterborough United FC v Birmingham City FC - Sky Bet League One by Cameron Smith | Getty Images
Birmingham City are doing everything in their power to fend off interest for sought-after Scottish midfielder Marc Leonard, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal.
The Blues have no intention of letting Leonard leave, especially after a stellar season last term with the club winning promotion back to the Championship.
Leonard only joined the Midlands-based club last season on a four-year contract from Premier League Brighton and Hove Albion.
But the two-time promotion-winner has already attracted the interest of a string of clubs, including Blackburn Rovers and Queens Park Rangers
And League One Huddersfield Town, who have big ambitions to win promotion back to the second tier, are also believed to be desperate to sign the former Rangers and Hearts academy graduate.
Leonard was a youth player with The Gers and then latterly Hearts, before being snapped up by The Seagulls in 2018.
LOAN SUCCESS
Successive loan spells with Northampton Town proved to be a perfect platform to praise his profile, with Birmingham pouncing to sign him as a key player to lead their quest to get back into the Championship following relegation.
Leonard may not be one of the first names of the team sheet for Chris Davies' side, but the Blues are keen to keep him as part of their ambitious squad.
The midfielder is understood to be settled in Birmingham, but the lack of starts may sway him away from St Andrews, especially given the recent addition of on-loan Wolves midfielder Tommy Doyle.
League One Barnsley have been rumoured to be interesting in signing the former Scotland Under-21 international, but our sources have been told that those links are wide of the mark.
Leonard only started 14 games last season for the Blues, but the club still consider him to be a valuable player in their plans going forward and it would take a substantial fee to tempt them to sell in the summer window.
Neil has been a journalist for longer than he'd care to remember, having written for national newspapers and respected publications for over 25 years. For the last three years he has worked freelance for BBC Sport, working on the production desk as a sub-editor and also as a writer, covering a whole range of sports.