Derby County are keen to sign promotion specialist Charlie Austin from Premier League outfit West Bromwich Albion, according to the Express and Star.
Phillip Cocu’s side might have been one of the Championship’s most potent attacking forces in 2019/20 but, if a miserable start to the new campaign is anything to go by, Derby have little choice but to sign a number nine before the October deadline if they are serious about challenging for a top-six berth.
Jack Marriott is the only Rams player to score across the first three games of 2020/21.
If they can come to an agreement with West Brom, the experienced Austin would be a more than welcome addition at Pride Park.
The £4 million centre-forward is one of the most prolific Championship strikers of the past decade.
His 17 strikes fired QPR to promotion in 2014 and he repeated the trick at the Hawthorns last term.
West Brom are now targeting a new striker of their own, with Andre Gray, Karlan Grant, Islam Slimani and M’baye Niang on Slaven Bilic’s radar, meaning Austin could be on the move again very soon.
The former Southampton man, the Baggies’ top earner on £70,000 a week, has been left out of West Brom’s last two Premier League squads and failed to score in his only start of the season – a 3-0 Carabao Cup thrashing of Harrogate Town a fortnight ago.
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