Krishnan Sreekumar
Leicester City interested in making transfer move for Manchester United midfielder James Garner
According to the Mirror, Leicester City are keen to snap up Manchester United midfielder James Garner ahead of the upcoming summer transfer window, when the player returns from his loan spell at Nottingham Forest.
Garner was sent out on loan to the Championship side for the entire 2021/22 campaign and has been in spectacular form for Forest. The Englishman has been a regular for the club, pulling the strings in midfield as they try to gain promotion to the Premier League next season.
The 21-year-old is expected to feature in tonight’s Championship play-off final for his team, trying to help them beat Huddersfield in the fixture. His displays on the pitch have caught the interest of several Premier League sides, including Leeds United and Southampton.
Regardless of what happens in the final, Garner is expected back at his parent club in the summer when his loan spell expires. However, his future in Manchester is to be decided by new manager Erik ten Hag, who will assess his inherited squad during the pre-season tour.
High on Brendan Rodgers’ list
Any potential plans that ten Hag could have for the midfielder next term could be disrupted by Leicester, who are keen to snap up the player in the summer. Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers is said to be keeping tabs on the youngster, after being impressed with Garner’s display against his side when Forest knocked them out of the FA Cup.
ten Hag will eventually be the person who takes the final call on the academy graduate’s future once the Dutchman decides who he wants to keep as part of his new-look team. Leicester are prepared to play the waiting game for Garner, however, with Rodgers having the United loanee high on his list of targets.
The Red Devils will be short of midfield options come next season, with the impending departures of Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata, and Jesse Lingard in the upcoming transfer window. These stars see their contracts run out in the coming weeks, and are not expected to commit beyond the summer.
This leaves ten Hag with Donny van de Beek, Fred, and Scott McTominay as his only squad players who operate in the middle of the park. Garner could yet be added to this list, but the player has never played in the top-flight before.
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The Manchester side could consider loaning him out to a Premier League club to further his development and gain regular game time. This will eventually come down to the new boss’ transfer business, with the former Ajax man looking to see how Garner performs during pre-season to take a final call.
If the club decide to loan him out again, then Leicester will have to battle Leeds and Southampton as well to secure his signature. It remains to be seen where the highly-rated youngster’s future lies, but that could be decided in the coming months.
