SHEFFIELD Wednesday defender Tom Lees could be the man to replace Michael Keane if the Clarets defender is prised away from Turf Moor by Leicester City.

As the Lancashire Telegraph reported yesterday, the Foxes had a club record £15million bid for Keane turned down by Burnley this week.

Claudio Ranieri’s Premier League champions are expected to return with an increased offer for the former Manchester United youngster.

If the 23-year-old does depart, Owls defender Lees looks likely to be on the list of possible targets after sources in South Yorkshire revealed he is on Sean Dyche’s radar.

Lees, who spent the 2009-10 campaign on loan at Accrington Stanley, is highly rated at Hillsborough and has been one of the club’s top performers since arriving from Leeds United two years ago.

He has established himself as a regular at the heart of a defence that helped Wednesday to the Championship play-off final last season, where they narrowly lost out to Hull at Wembley.

The 25-year-old came through the ranks at Elland Road and went on to make 123 appearances for the Whites.

His switch to Stanley saw him play 39 games under John Coleman and he played a part in the team’s run to the quarter-finals of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy where they lost 2-0 to Leeds, although he wasn’t allowed to play against his parent club.

After his spell at the Crown Ground ended, Coleman said: “I’ve made an enquiry to Leeds regarding Tom Lees, but he wants to go back and have a crack at getting to the side there first.

“I reckon he will know whether he is part of their first-team plans when pre-season gets underway, so I’d prefer to bring him back before the actual season starts if I can.”

Lees, who has six caps at Under-21 level for England, has three years left on his current contract and his departure would be seen as a major blow to a Wednesday side looking to chase their Premier league dream after going so close to promotion last season.

That reluctance to sell could see a fee of £5m upwards being slapped on one of their most valued assets.