Leeds United are reportedly keeping a close eye on Oxford United’s Cameron Brannagan ahead of a summer transfer for him, according to Football Insider.

The Whites might well be in the Premier League next season and rubbing shoulders with some of the richest clubs in world football but this hasn’t stopped them preparing for the summer transfer window and casting their eye on more cost-effective signings.

Many managers in the Championship, along with Marcelo Bielsa, have proven that it doesn’t take a mega-rich spending spree to climb out of the division and into the top flight, with Huddersfield Town and Bournemouth proving just that in recent years; shrewd signings and business to help strengthen the side in key areas is the main way to mould a squad towards promotion-challenging status.

One area that Leeds have struggled in this season for numbers and consistency is central midfield as the likes of Adam Forshaw, Jamie Shackleton and Tyler Roberts cannot stay fit while Pablo Hernandez and Mateusz Klich haven’t produced the same output as last season, even if they have both netted in the last two games.

Football Insider has revealed that the Whites are indeed looking to strengthen in that area in the summer and have cast an eye over Oxford United’s star midfielder Cameron Brannagan. The central midfielder has been a crucial part of Karl Robinson’s plans this season and remains at the club despite January interest from the Championship and two other key players leaving in Tariqe Fosu and Shandon Baptiste, both to Brentford.

A summer move could be on the cards for Brannagan and Elland Road looks like being one of the front-runners for his destination.

It’s been a great season for far for the U’s and Brannagan in particular, with the side currently just a point outside the play-offs. The numbers back up how stellar a season the former Liverpool man’s been having…

So far this season, he has made 28 appearances in the league, playing in a variety of roles in midfield ranging from more defensive to more attacking.

Despite playing in a range of roles, he has still managed to notch up seven goals so far this season and three assists. With 10 goal involvements, only Jack Harrison has more at Leeds in their midfield (11).

It’s been the main problem in the Leeds team this season as they push for promotion. Not scoring enough goals. While Patrick Bamford takes the brunt of the criticism, it has to be said that those behind him aren’t stepping up this season, so Brannagan’s eye for goal from midfield would certainly be a welcome addition to the side.

Oxford are a possession-based, attack-minded side with the third-best goalscoring record in League One, meaning that free-flowing and accurate passing is a vital part of their success. The same applies to Leeds under Bielsa so it bodes well that his passing accuracy in a high-traffic area of the pitch is at an extremely impressive 87.4% so far this season. It’s certainly a talented midfield that he would be breaking into but with figures of this ilk then he could easily hit the ground running.

Can you name the year these players signed for Leeds?

While Brannagan is caught between being a defensive midfielder and an attacking midfielder, his role as a number eight in Robinson’s midfield allows him to demonstrate prowess at both ends of the pitch, as he currently averages a defensive duel success rate of 56.2% and  1.35 progressive runs per game. The talented attack in front of him allows for a lot of expression in the Oxford side and something that strikes a resemblance to this current Leeds side, with his role certainly showing similarities to the likes of Adam Forshaw and Mateusz Klich. His dribbling success makes for good reading as a central midfielder too with a success rate of near half at 48.5% currently.

It’s clear that Brannagan will be playing his football at a higher standard before too long, whether that be with a promoted Oxford side or Leeds or indeed elsewhere but what these numbers back up is that it’s completely justified that the Whites would be casting their eye on him after an impressive season at the Kassam.