Stoke City and Nottingham Forest are reportedly in talks over a swap deal between James McClean and Ben Osborn.

The latter has been a regular for the East Midlands club over the last few years, making over 210 appearances for the Reds, and being deployed as either a left-sided midfielder, left-back, or central midfielder.

But the 24-year-old could be part of a major exchange at the City Ground, with Martin O'Neill keen to reunite with James McClean - a player O'Neill will know well from his time with the Republic of Ireland national side.

The 29-year-old only signed for Stoke in the summer from West Brom for a reported fee of £5 million, and has since scored one goal and produced six assists for the Potters.

Here, we talk about this surprising transfer deal...

George Harbey

"This is baffling.

"There's no doubting McClean's ability, and he's easily one of the better wide players in the league on his day.

"But to get rid of Osborn could upset a lot of fans, he's a homegrown star."

Louie Chandler

"What is O'Neill thinking?

"Osborn and McClean are on similar level at the moment and the Irishman is only going to deteriorate from here.

"Osborn has plenty of time to get better and it would be utter madness to agree to this."

Chris Gallagher

"It could suit both teams.

"Clearly, O'Neill is a massive fan of McClean and he wants to work with him again at Forest.

"Yet, Osborn's age suggests Stoke would be getting the better deal and he has a lot of potential but ultimately both would be happy with this."

Alfie Burns

"McClean is someone the manager knows well, which will be important. But this doesn’t look a good deal for Forest.

"Osborn works hard and offers good versatility. He would be missed.

"Stoke will be delighted deep down, this is rectifying a Gary Rowett mistake."

Gary Hutchinson

"The McClean / Osborn swap deal seems like bad business for Stoke.

"Is Osborn worth £5m? No.

"That’s essentially what they’d be paying for him as it was the cost of McClean in the summer.

"Mind you, if Osborn gets a run of games and thrives, he may well be a better player than McClean, who never impresses me."