Hearts are interested in bringing Leeds centre-back Conor Shaughnessy to Scotland on loan in January, according to Edinburgh Live.
The report claims that 6’4″ Shaughnessy was in Edinburgh over the weekend being shown around ahead of a potential move, and that he was at the derby game at Easter Road.
Top-flight Scottish manager Craig Levein wants more cover in defence and Shaughnessy needs more game-time if he’s going to force himself into Marcelo Bielsa’s plans.
OPINION
On the face of it, this might not seem to make a whole lot of sense, with Leeds struggling in the first-half of the season with injuries. Leeds have been short in the centre of defence this season, with Gaetano Berardi and Liam Cooper sidelined, but Bielsa obviously doesn’t fancy Shaughnessy. He’s preferred Kalvin Phillips and Aapo Halme at centre-back, with Shaughnessy not even making the squad for a league game since August. Shaughnessy made the bench twice for Leeds at the start of the season but hasn’t featured since, and was only given 45 minutes in the EFL Cup. If he’s not going to play it makes sense to let the youngster head out on loan. Hearts would be a good place to go, with games against the likes of Rangers and Celtic giving him plenty of big-match experience. With the player having been shown around in Edinburgh, it sounds like this one is fairly advanced and could happen early on in the transfer window.