Championship outfit Swansea City are reportedly in pole position to land the signing of Northern Ireland international Ethan Galbraith after his stunning season at Leyton Orient.

Galbraith has attracted a host of admirers following his performances last term with Swansea having their original bid rejected in January while Charlton Athletic and Huddersfield Town have also had £1.5million offers turned down.

Former Linfield youngster Galbraith, who departed Windsor Park for Premier League giants Manchester United in 2017, was one of Orient’s top talents in League One as they narrowly missed out on sealing promotion following play-off final defeat to Charlton.

The 24-year-old scored six goals and provided a further seven assists across 42 league appearances for Richie Wellens’ side – form which has attracted significant interest from teams higher up the English pyramid with Sheffield United also keen on Galbraith.

placeholder image — Northern Ireland's Ethan Galbraith is attracting Championship interest. (Photo by Brian Lawless/PA Wire)

However, Football League World have now reported that Swansea are considered favourites in a competitive race after renewing their interest in the versatile Northern Ireland ace this summer.

Galbraith has taken his game to another level at Brisbane Road with Orient manager Wellens claiming he has the potential to play at the highest level.

“He is a Premier League player in the making and younger players who watch him can see how strong he is in his running,” said Wellens last season. "He’s unbelievable and he’s brilliant.

"We’ve got loads of young players that should be watching him and going ‘he’s intense there, he’s always running, he’s always at it’.”

Galbraith’s club form has seen him establish himself in Northern Ireland’s senior squad once again, moving on to seven international caps after featuring in last month’s double-header against Denmark and Iceland.

He made one senior appearance for United during his time at Old Trafford and enjoyed loan spells at Doncaster Rovers and Salford City before joining Orient in 2023.

Galbraith was once dubbed “our little Xavi or Iniesta” by former Northern Ireland boss Ian Baraclough while he also received high praise from international legends David Healy and Jim Magilton earlier this year.

"Knowing him from he was 14 or 15, he has a wee bit of Steve Davis about him,” Healy told BBC. “He sees the picture, can handle the ball and part of his development at Man United would have been dealing with the ball.

"When he lands on the ball, physically he isn't 100 per cent there just yet, but he sees clever passes, uses his body well...there were one or two of his performances I'm sure Northern Ireland supporters would have seen at U21 level which were exceptional.”

Current Cliftonville boss Magilton played a key role in helping develop the likes of Galbraith during his time as Irish FA Elite Performance Director.

He said: "He's magical, I've always been a huge fan...he's starting to develop into a top class player.”