Crystal Palace and Aston Villa are among the clubs vying for the signature of Jonathan Afolabi whilst the young striker is guiding the Republic of Ireland into the last four of the Under-19 European Championships.
Afolabi left Southampton at the end of the season and has attracted interest from numerous clubs in England and abroad, with sides from Russia and Spain having also expressed an interest in the forward.
Palace are among the clubs whose progress towards signing Afolabi is furthest advanced and football.london understands they have submitted a contract offer to the 19-year-old and his representatives.
Afolabi wants to leave Southampton to find a club where he could be assured of greater opportunities in the first team and Palace, whose senior striking options amount to Alexander Sorloth, Connor Wickham and Christian Benteke, are among those who could offer him a realistic chance of breaking into the senior side.
However Aston Villa are also hunting for forward options and have taken a close interest in Afolabi, who scored the Republic of Ireland U19s first goal in a 2-1 quarter-final win over the Czech Republic.
Meanwhile former Crystal Palace boss Sam Allardyce has urged Wilfried Zaha to leave Selhurst Park amid interest from Arsenal.
The Gunners saw a £40million bid rejected by the Eagles, who value Zaha at double that price, but with the forward eager to move to his boyhood club Arsenal are expected to test Palace's resolve once more.
"Wilfried is proven at this level and he'd be a massive success at Arsenal," Allardyce said. "He's ready, but Arsenal need to stop messing around like they are the minute."
