Neal Maupay is at the centre of a three-way Premier League transfer battle, with Everton and Fulham ready to battle Nottingham Forest to the Brighton striker's signature.
The 26-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Seagulls this summer after falling out of favour, with Danny Welbeck and Deniz Undav ahead of him in the pecking order. Maupay was left out of the Brighton squad for their 0-0 draw against Newcastle United on Saturday.
That came after newly-promoted Forest agreed a £15million fee for the Frenchman, with Steve Cooper keen to strengthen their forward line despite already signing Emmanuel Dennis and Taiwo Awoniyi for a combined £32million. However, Maupay is stalling on agreeing personal terms with the Reds after holding talks with Frank Lampard.
The Toffees boss is desperate to bring in a forward before the transfer window slams shut, after Richarlison joined Tottenham for £60m, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin is still out for at least another month. Lampard has identified Maupay as a target, with Michy Batshuayi and Serhou Guirassy both linked also.
It is understood that Fulham have also joined the race for Maupay as they look to ease the goalscoring burden on Aleksandr Mitrovic, who scored twice on the opening day against Liverpool. Rodrigo Muniz is currently the Cottagers' second-choice striker, but he is still learning his trade and netted just five times last term in their promotion campaign.
Maupay joined the Seagulls from Brentford for £20m in 2019 and played in all but one Premier League game in his first season, scoring 10 goals in 37 appearances. He struck a further eight times in the following campaign, before also finding the net on eight occasions.
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As for Brighton, Graham Potter could now be looking to add another striker with Maupay set to leave and the Seagulls boss has not ruled out the possibility of that happening. However, Potter has reiterated that he is still pleased with the attacking options he has at his disposal.
"I am always content. I think you have got to look at the squad and look at how you can improve. We have got a different mix of players but there probably isn't another Danny Welbeck in terms of profile so that is something we may look at if we are going to look anywhere," Potter said, via SussexLive.
"But we have got some good attacking options. Deniz [Undav] didn't come on today [against Newcastle], we still have got Evan Ferguson, still got Julio [Enciso] who we believe in, we've still got young players.
"Leandro Trossard has played up front as a nine so then Kaoru [Mitoma] can play wide so there's lots of different profiles from an attacking perspective. But as I say, while the window is open we have to keep looking and see what is out there."
