Cardiff City are reportedly leading the race to sign West Brom striker Charlie Austin at the 11th-hour.
The Baggies are thought to be close to sealing a £15m move for Karlan Grant, paving the way for Austin's exit before Friday's 5pm deadline.
And now MailOnline report that the Bluebirds are in pole position to land the 31-year-old forward, who bagged 11 goals in West Brom's promotion season last term but has fallen down the pecking order this term.
WalesOnline understands that Cardiff have been tracking Austin during this window, but a deadline-day swoop for the player was thought to be unlikely.
Neil Harris has already brought in Kieffer Moore to bolster his striker options alongside Robert Glatzel, however the likes of Gary Madine, Danny Ward, Callum Paterson and Omar Bogle have all left the club since the start of the calendar year.
Given the financial outlay involved in the deal to bring Harry Wilson on loan, the details of which can be found here, it seems unlikely that City will be able to take on Austin's wages as well.
But, as we all know, things can change quickly in the dying hours of the transfer window.
Baggies boss Slaven Bilic has recently stated that he expects three players to leave the club before Friday's 5pm deadline, with former Bluebird Kenneth Zohore Kamil Grosicki and Austin thought to be the ones most likely to depart.
"I can't tell you who, but there could be three players who leave," Bilic said on Friday.
"A couple, if not three. A couple are in talks with other clubs.
"Until then, they're our players. Unless the deals go through, they'll come back to us, so it's not fair for talk to me about it."
