According to The Sun, Premier League clubs Southampton, Crystal Palace and Burnley have been credited with an interest in Birmingham City forward Che Adams.
The Sun, however, understands that Southampton are currently the frontrunners in the race to land the highly-rated 22-year-old striker this summer, with reports claiming that the Saints are ready to make a £14 million bid for the rising Championship star.
The same report claims that Birmingham City are holding out for a fee of £16 million to part ways with their prized asset, although it remains to be seen whether they accept a bid below that for their star man.
Birmingham City only secured a mid-table finish in the Championship this past season but Che Adams was one of the brightest sparks of the Blues otherwise disappointing campaign in the second-tier.
The 22-year-old bagged as many as 22 goals and 4 assists in 46 appearances for Garry Monk’s side in the Championship last term and his goalscoring exploits have made him one of the hottest, young and in-demand prospects in the summer transfer window ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Southampton have already set the ball rolling in the summer window with the acquisition of 20-year-old Malian international winger Moussa Djenepo from Standard Liege and the Saints are seemingly not done with their dealings just yet, with a move for Adams very much in the pipeline.
The Leicester-born forward made eyeballs turn with his scintillating run of form in front of goal in the Championship last season and the Saints apparently believe he is good enough to make the step up to the Premier League next term.
Manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has already made his intentions very clear with the signing of Djenepo that he is trying to build a squad in his own image with a youthful overhaul on the cards and Adams,22, would certainly be another fine addition to the Saints rather blunt-looking forward line.
Standing at 5ft. 9 inches with a stocky frame, Adams is certainly not the tallest of strikers but he makes up for it with his sharpness, agility, pace, dribbling, acceleration and movement.
An athletic frontman with a high top-speed and quick acceleration, Adams can be quite deceptive in and around the penalty area with his superior upper body strength and he showed last season how devastating a presence he can be with his pace and power.
Adams has shown the killer instincts of a prolific striker very early in his career and he is only going to get better with time. The youngster only scored 12 goals in the Championship in the 2016-17 and 17-18 campaigns combined but his tally of 22 last term highlights the kind of progress he has made over the years.
To put things into perspective, Che Adams might not be the finished article just yet but he could be another exciting addition to Southampton’s ranks this summer.
The Saints only managed to score 45 goals in 38 Premier League outings the last term and it doesn’t require a rocket scientist to figure out that they need to improve significantly on that if they are to challenge for better things next season.
The likes of Charlie Austin and Shane Long hardly offered anything up front, while Liverpool loanee Danny Ings teased the fans with glimpses of promise.
Ings’ loan deal is automatically set to become a permanent one in July but the Saints need to bring in another young and talented striker to replace the likes of Austin and Long, and Adams certainly fits the bill.
Hasenhuttl’s philosophy favours the presence of pacey and energetic attackers up front, which is exactly the reason why players like Josh Sims and Nathan Redmond flourished, while Long and Austin failed to make much of an impact.
Also, the Austrian showed a lot of confidence in youngsters like Yan Valery and Michael Obafemi, meaning that Che Adams could also flourish under the former Leipzig manager.
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To sum it up, Che Adams would be a tailor-made addition to what Hasenhuttl is trying to build at Southampton.
That said, the Saints should go ahead with the deal and match Birmingham City’s valuation of the talented 22-year-old.