Wigan Athletic, fresh from signing Nottingham Forest-linked Sunderland top scorer Charlie Wyke, are being linked with a move for another striker put in the frame to join Chris Hughton.
Stephen Humphrys has been attracting scouts from the Championship - with Forest on a list alongside Stoke City, Blackburn, Bristol City, Preston and Swansea - thanks to his performances at Rochdale, who were relegated from League One last season.
But it is Wigan who are now said to be at the front of the queue.
Football League World claim that the 23-year-old forward is closing in on a move to the DW Stadium.
Wigan were plunged into crisis last summer when their owners left and stuck them in administration. Docked points meant they were relegated from the Championship.
But they stayed up in League One and are now rebuilding under new boss Liam Richardson and new owner Abdulrahman Al-Jasmi.
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Richardson has also brought in Jack Whatmough and Tom Naylor from Portsmouth, Max Power from Sunderland, Ben Amos from Charlton and Gwion Edwards from Ipswich.
Wyke turned down a new contract at the Stadium of Light to sign up.
Several League One clubs are expected to outspend some in the Championship this transfer window, with Ipswich and Sunderland also digging deep.
Sunderland manager Lee Johnson said: "There's a lot of people talking in the Championship but who aren't in a great place in terms of being able to commit to players financially.
"They seem to have been hit the hardest and in some cases, it's the League One clubs who seem to be the largest spenders."
