Brighton transfer gossip: Crystal Palace and Everton eye ex-Albion and Arsenal striker with '£15m' exit on the cards

Former Arseanal man and Brighton loanee Chuba Akpom is playing some of the best football of his career at Middlesbrough

Crystal Palace, Everton and Southampton are all said to be weighing up a move for the Championships leading scorer Chuba Akpom.

The Middlesbrough man has been in fine form for Michael Carrick’s team this season and has 12 goals in just 19 appearances.

Akpom, 27, started life at Arsenal but has had a nomadic career with loan stints at Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest, Hull and also made 10 appearances for Brighton in 2017. He failed to hit the target during his time on the south coast and his displays were often criticised by Albion fans.

He moved to Belgium for a loan at Sint-Truiden and then on to Greek side PAOK, who he joined on permanent basis.

He returned to the UK with Middlesbrough for around £2.5m in 2021 and finally found his best form under Carrick and will likely play against Brighton in the FA Cup this Saturday.

His contract at the Riverside expires this summer but Middlesbrough are believed to have an option of a further year for a player who could leave for around £15m.

His displays have caught the eye of some on the Premier League teams who badly need to add some goals to their team and, according to the dailymail.co.uk, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Everton have all expressed interest.