Leicester City are in pole position to win the race for Luton Town defender James Justin, Football Insider have reported.

Justin played a key role in Luton's League One title win - their second promotion in as many years this season - and is now attracting attention from a number of clubs.

Southampton; Crystal Palace; Aston Villa and Fulham are all also thought to be interested in the 21-year-old defender, although it is The Foxes who appear to be in a strong position to win the race for the versatile full back.

It is reported that both Leicester and Villa have made offers of £7.5million for Justin, who was named in the PFA League One Team of the Season for his contributions to Luton's title win this year.

A product of Luton's youth system, Justin has made 114 appearances in all competitions for The Hatters, scoring six goals. He is however out of contract in 12 months' time, meaning the club could be tempted to cash in on him while they still can in the summer transfer window.

The verdict

Justin will be a big loss for Luton, but it seems as though they are doing the right in letting him go this summer.

That way they will at least be able to get a fee for the defender, which they will now be able to put towards funding the search for his replacement, something they would have been unable to do had they waited for his contract to expire next season.