Exclusive: Burnley in transfer battle with Leeds, £5m will seal the deal

Burnley have joined Leeds United in the hunt to sign Oxford United midfielder Cameron Brannagan this summer, Football Insider can reveal.

This site revealed earlier in February that the Championship leaders had been sending scouts to watch the 23-year-old in action .

A Burnley source has told Football Insider that the club have also set their sights on Brannagan ahead of the summer deal.

The two clubs are still assessing the player and have not yet opened negotiations.

But they will be aware that Oxford could be forced to cash in on their prize asset amid football's changed economics.

The League One club are among those in the bottom tiers of the EFL who are facing a crisis as a result of the season suspension that is set to extend into at least the start of June.

Leeds and Burnley may regard Oxford as something of a bargain, especially if they are forced to drop their previous £3-5million valuation to force through a deal.

He has a contract at Oxford that runs until the summer of 2021 but will be entering the final 12 months of his current deal at the end of this season.

The goalscoring central midfielder has ignited his career at Oxford since joining from Liverpool in January 2018.

He has made 29 league starts among 36 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring seven times and laying on six assists.

Brannagan has now clocked up 101 matches in just over two years for Karl Robinson's side and has developed into one of the best players outside of the top two divisions.

Leeds, who signed Kemar Roofe from Oxford in 2016 for £3m, are in the market for a central midfielder this summer regardless of which division they are in next season.

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