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By Johnny Edward.
Clubs seeking to sign Middlesbrough striker, Chuba Akpom, this summer must be ready to pay £20m, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Crystal Palace, Everton, Wolves, Leicester City and Brentford are some of the Premier League clubs reportedly tracking the 27-year-old striker ahead of a potential summer move according to TEAMtalk.
The 27-year-old hitman has enjoyed a sensational individual campaign in the Championship scoring 28 goals and registering two assists from 36 games and was awarded with the EFL Player of the Year recently.
However, with his contract having just a year to run on his current deal, Middlesbrough are prepared to sell in order to fund a potential summer rebuild for Michael Carrick.
“The club’s prized asset Chuba Akpom is the most likely departure given he also has just 12 months left on his current deal.
“Crystal Palace are long-term admirers of Akpom, as TEAMtalk has already revealed. Meanwhile, Everton, Wolves, Leicester and Brentford have checked on him as well.
“In terms of a transfer fee, Boro would be looking to get close to £20m for Akpom,” TEAMtalk reveals.
Meanwhile, Middlesbrough coach, Michael Carrick, hopes Akpom signs a new long-term contract and commits his future to the club before the summer.
Asked about Akpom’s contract situation, Carrick said, “Sitting here, no there is nothing to update on right now.
Listen, Chuba is obviously doing great for us and it’s something we are looking at between now and the end of the season. Not just Chuba but contracts for players moving ahead into the summer and next season. Individually though, there is no update to give you on Chuba.”
Asked if he had personally spoken to the striker about his contract situation, and if he would like the 27-year-old to sign a new long-term deal, the Boro head coach continued, “Yes. He’s done great, and we say this every week, but we’re always talking about him and for good reasons. He’s got a big part to play between now and the end of the season and we’re looking forward to seeing that between now and then.
“It depends (on conversations). I have a lot of conversations with players in different ways. There are plenty of things we have to sort out and organise to be ready for games. As and when, we’ll get things sorted.”