Transfer Talk (Thursday): Owls snub Tigers | Leeds up ante for Boro forward | Reds eye Swans striker

The 27-year-old Scotland international, who joined Wednesday from Crystal Palace in 2015, has been in impressive form this term, prompting a bid from Hull, who are desperate to bring in some midfield recruits to boost their numbers.

Sam Clucas has completed a £16.5m move to Swansea City, while Kevin Stewart and Markus Henriksen are sidelined with injury until after the international break, with first-team options starting to assume crisis proportions for Tigers chief Leonid Slutsky - forced to make do without a number of other injured players.

Hull did complete one piece of business yesterday, bringing in defender Stephen Kingsley from Swansea for an undisclosed fee.

A fee for Arsenal midfielder Jon Toral has also been agreed.

Leeds United are expected to complete the signing of 19-year-old Dutch forward Jay-Roy Grot from NEC Nijmegen for £1.5m before upping the ante in their bid to land Middlesbrough’s Rudy Gestede.

United are extremely short of striker options following Chris Wood’s £15m switch to Burnley and the Whites have already seen one bid of £6m for 28-year-old Gestede rejected.

Preston North End’s Jordan Hugill or Norwich City’s Nelson Oliveira could be viable alternatives.

The Whites are also looking to part ways with out-of-favour midfielder Toumani Diagouraga.

Middlesbrough are assessing their options after seeing an initial bid turned down for Brentford’s much-vaunted attacking midfielder Jota.

An opening offer from Boro for the Spanish midfielder - reportedly worth £4.5m plus add-on clauses - has been rejected by the Bees, but the Teessiders could return with a second offer, although they are unwilling to enter into an auction.

The London club are said to value the player, about to enter the final year of his contract at Griffin Park, is the £8m bracket. Newcastle United and Brighton have also been credited with interest in the playmaker, along with Derby County.

Barnsley are lining up a move for Aston Villa’s out-of-favour midfielder Gary Gardner and are hoping for progress in their quest to sign Swansea City striker and long-time target, Leeds-born Bradford product Oli McBurnie.

Gardner, who has come through the ranks at Villa Park, has been unable to hold a regular place in the Villa side since making his debut in 2011.

He was regarded as one of the club’s best prospects when he broke into the Villa side, but injuries and managerial changes have hindered his progress. Nottingham Forest are also known admirers.

Bradford City are re-focusing their efforts on bringing in a loan centre-back after recently losing out on the signing of Leicester’s Elliott Moore, who has joined Belgian outfit OH Leuven until January