Luke Murphy is currently on loan at Championship Burton Albion from Leeds.
Thomas Christiansen will be desperate to enter the January transfer window and put a number of disappointing Leeds United transfers behind the club by landing a couple of bargain coups.
The Whites signed a number of players from abroad including the likes of Ezgjan Alioski, Samu Saiz and Caleb Ekuban, who have all turned out to be successes at Elland Road.
However, the likes of Pierre-Michel Lasogga, Mateusz Klich and Pawel Cibicki are yet to prove their expensive fees and Christiansen will want to show fans that he and director of football Victor Orta can be trusted when it comes to signings.
The Daily Mail claim Leeds are interested in signing Bolton’s impressive young midfielder Josh Vela but face competition from Brighton, as well as Championship sides Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday.
The 23-year-old has impressed in a side that are near the bottom of the Championship, but surely signing the Wanderers mainstay would see Luke Murphy’s Elland Road career finally end.
The former Crewe Alexandra ace is on loan at Burton Albion for the second time, with his temporary deal ending at the end of the 2017-18 season. Making 21 league and cup appearances for the Brewers this term, Murphy has impressed.
However, he remains below the likes of Ronaldo Vieira, Eunan O’Kane, Kalvin Phillips and Klich in the Elland Road pecking order, and it should see him leave if the Whites sign Vela or indeed another central midfielder.
Signing a four-year deal with Leeds in 2015, Murphy has another year remaining at Leeds after his Burton loan and the Daily Star claimed a year after his extension in 2016 he is earning £10,000 a week.
Murphy’s Leeds spell, though, will soon be over if the Whites do look to sign a central midfielder such as Vela, and could even be over anyway despite his eye-catching form in Staffordshire.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
