Bristol City have turned to an out-of-favour Premier League striker as time ticks down on their search for a new front man.
The Robins are reportedly pursuing a deal for Crystal Palace's Connor Wickham.
Football League gossip guru Alan Nixon claims City are vying with Stoke for the 26-year-old's signature.
Wickham was on the scoresheet in Palace's 5-0 thumping of the Robins on Saturday, but he has never quite nailed down a starting berth since moving to south London from Sunderland in 2015, with injury problems a contributing factor.
The centre-forward was limited to just eight appearances last season having returned from a long-term knee issue, scoring once against Tottenham in the FA Cup - his first competitive goal for Palace since 2016.
He only featured once more for the Eagles after that in the 2018/19 season, coming off the bench on the final day of the campaign in a 5-3 win against Bournemouth.
Nixon tweeted: "Palace. Connor Wickham has a couple of clubs after him. Stoke one of those."
When a fan asked if Bristol City were involved too, he replied "yes".
Head coach Lee Johnson has made no secret of his desire to bring in a new front man. On Tuesday, he said: ""I think there's a bit to do yet [transfers-wise]. Both in and out," admitted Johnson. A busy end to the window is indeed in prospect.
"I wouldn't be surprised if there's a bit more than that [just a striker] done. I think that will be the hardest one because everybody's looking for one that's going to fire you into the Champions League even. It's going to be expensive.
"If you truly want proven, then we probably have to break a structure or two to be able to do that."
