CITY will get a “thinking football player” if they can clinch the signing of Scotland under-21 international Elliot Watt.

The 20-year-old midfielder from Wolves has attracted plenty of interest from Leagues One and Two but the Bantams appear favourites to land him.

Stuart McCall has been monitoring Watt since returning to the Valley Parade hot-seat in February and is believed to be close to doing a deal.

McCall, who made former Scunthorpe utility player Levi Sutton his first summer capture at the weekend, has been impressed with the way Watt adapted to League Two at Carlisle.

He joined the Cumbrians on loan at the start of the new year but COVID-19 cut short his planned half-season stay.

But Watt caught the eye in his time at Brunton Park with his passing ability and set-piece deliveries.

Carlisle boss Chris Beech admitted to having a “frank” discussion with the youngster at half-time of his league debut against Plymouth, warning him to not get bogged down in possession.

Watt learned fast and was on the losing side only twice more in 11 loan appearances as Carlisle pulled well clear of the relegation zone.

He scored once as well as providing assists from corners and free-kicks with Beech describing him as a “thinking football player”.

Preston-born Watt joined Wolves four years ago and has made one senior appearance when he started in a 2-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup in August 2018.

He was selected for Scotland under-21s for the Toulon tournament that summer as an 18-year-old and has three caps.

Watt insists that playing in League Two has not come as a culture shock after a lengthy spell developing his game in the Molineux academy.

“Being brought up all around the Football League through being a Preston fan, remembering their League One days and stuff like that, I know all about the leagues,” he said, in an interview with our sister paper The News & Star.

““I know it’s really competitive, you have to win your first balls and second balls, earn your right to play.

“I feel like I’m a leader even though I’m a young age. I’m very vocal and like to tell people what to do but in a nice way.

“I also like to get on the ball, make things happen and feed the ball to players who are gonna score us goals.”

Watt has trained with the first team at high-flying Wolves and revealed that rubbing shoulders with some star names in Nuno Espirito Santo's squad has made him even more determined to succeed.

“Last season I made my debut at Sheffield Wednesday, which was a great experience, and I was training around the squad quite a lot, with the likes of (Joao) Moutinho and (Ruben) Neves.

“If you can’t learn from them, who can you learn from? They are world-class players.”

City are also thought to be close to keeping Richard O’Donnell for next season.

Other clubs in the division have been eyeing O’Donnell but City are understood to be confident of securing the keeper’s future shortly.