Britt Assombalonga could leave Championship chasers Boro in the January transfer window with Premier League Crystal Palace apparently keen.
A 1-0 win at home to Leicester City on Saturday merely papers over the cracks for Crystal Palace.
A new centre-forward is an absolute must if Roy Hodgson’s side are to avoid relegation to the Championship but, with a limited budget available to the former England boss, the chances of signing a top class striker look slim.
According to the Northern Echo, Crystal Palace are interested in handing Britt Assombalonga the first Premier League switch of his career with the 26-year-old’s future at Middlesbrough up in the air.
Assombalonga, who has scored six times in 13 league starts this season, is understood to have a strained relationship with Boro manager Tony Pulis, which has increased speculation that he could leave the Riverside.
But, the Northern Echo add, the promotion chasers would demand £15 million for Assombalonga, a fee that would see them recoup the sum they paid Nottingham Forest back in 2017.
Whether Crystal Palace are capable of paying such a sum on a single player remains to be seen.
The Evening Standard have claimed that money will be tight in January, forcing Hodgson to look at the loan market instead with Liverpool’s seldom seen striker Dominic Solanke understood to be an attractive option.
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