Development emerges around Marc Leonard leaving Birmingham City this January | OneFootball

Marc Leonard is set to depart Birmingham City in the short-term amid strong transfer interest

Birmingham City midfielder Marc Leonard is now expected to complete a loan switch to his former side, Hearts, for the remainder of the Scottish Premiership campaign.

It has been widely reported that the 24-year-old has been expected to leave St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park in either a permanent or temporary form throughout the current winter transfer window, which shuts at 7PM on Monday, February 2nd.

However, with there now just over one week left of said timeframe, the Scottish midfielder is braced for a return to Tynecastle Park, where he came through the academy before making a well-documented switch to Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League.

Football League World did exclusively reveal on January 6th that as many as eight players could depart this part of the West Midlands between then and the aforementioned deadline, with as many as five players namedropped when it came to potential permanent exits in some capacity.

Two of those moves have officially been confirmed thus far, with Leonard's compatriot, Lyndon Dykes, ending his own 18-month association with Blues in order to link up with Championship rivals, Charlton Athletic, on a short-term contract until the end of the season, whilst Keshi Anderson saw his contract terminated by mutual consent last week before he joined Portsmouth on a free transfer.

It has since been reported that right-back Alfons Sampsted is braced for a move to Go Ahead Eagles of the Eredivisie after a lack of first-team minutes, and whilst a permanent move will not be the course of action taken in this window when it comes to Leonard, the playmaker has reportedly sealed an agreement with his former club that could see him make his senior Hearts bow as early as this weekend.

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As previously mentioned, Leonard has been the subject of rather intense transfer interest throughout the course of the current season, with the Scottish youth international seeing his gametime diminish significantly under Chris Davies.

In truth, though, the Scot has never been fully able to pin down a starting spot in the Blues boss' lineup ever since his reported £500,000 switch from the AMEX Stadium during Davies' maiden transfer window in a full-time managerial role back in the summer of 2024.

Indeed, Leonard was a starter in just 23 of Birmingham's 60 matches across all competitions in their record-breaking campaign last time out, which saw them record 111 points as League One champions, as well as reaching the EFL Trophy final and FA Cup fourth round.

After failing to oust either of Paik Seung-ho and Tomoki Iwata in Davies' midfield, it was then reported that Huddersfield Town were looking to strike a transfer deal with Blues for Leonard's services in the summer following the loan arrival of Tommy Doyle from Wolves. However, this failed to materialise.

Since then, Leonard has made just 17 appearances for Blues this season in league and cup, and has been omitted from all of their previous four Championship and FA Cup squads, with it being reported that a loan switch was the club's preferred option in terms of a move amid interest from Sheffield United and Norwich City.

Belgian Pro League side, Sint-Truidense VV then reportedly eyed up a loan swoop of their own, but it was revealed by the Edinburgh Evening News on Thursday night that Leonard is set for a short-term return to Tynecastle and could even make his debut against Celtic in a crunch clash this weekend.

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The recent arrival of Jhon Solis at St. Andrew's saw Leonard's future in B9 plunged into even greater doubt, meaning this is a move which benefits all involved.

Derek McInnes is in need of extra midfield depth as his side look to achieve a first Scottish Premiership title success since 1960 ahead of Celtic and Rangers, as they currently lead the table by six points ahead of a crucial match with Martin O'Neill's Hoops on Sunday.

As such, the opportunity to return to his academy club as a somewhat seasoned campaigner and help them achieve a remarkable feat in the short-term would no doubt have appealed to Leonard, who will be able to source a greater amount of first-team minutes, whilst this deal also allows Blues plenty of time to weigh up their options as to what the future may hold.