Swansea City are aiming to bring in Hull City midfielder Sam Clucas, although manager Paul Clement has admitted prices could rise after their £45m windfall for Gylfi Sigurdsson.
The Swans are understood to have made a bid for Clucas – thought to be around £12m – as they look to re-shape their squad following Sigurdsson’s move to Everton.
Hull have so far rejected a £10m bid for Clucas from Burnley as they try to plot a return to the Premier League.
The 26-year-old joined Hull from Chesterfield in 2015 and has since featured 96 times for the club, scoring nine times. He missed only one game as Hull were relegated to the Championship last season and has two years left on his current contract.
Clement has also been linked with moves for their former striker Wilfried Bony, now at Manchester City after spending last season on loan at Stoke, and West Brom midfielder Nacer Chadli, although Clement refused to confirm his interest in either player as well as Clucas.
He did, though, admit prices quoted to the Swans could now spiral and that agents across the world were reacting to the Sigurdsson cash burning a hole in his pocket.
“I’ve seen that he (Bony) has been linked with us and the other name (Chadli) has been linked as well,” he said. “The emails and the texts are coming in from agents all over the world.
“Because they know we’ve done the Gylfi Sigurdsson deal and they know that we want to bring players in.
“But we’re focused and what our needs and our priorities are. We have multiple targets because sometimes things don’t come off or the price is too high.
“What’s important now is we move swiftly because time is important but we certainly won’t panic. Sometimes the deals are better at the end of the window.
And he added: “That can sometimes happen [clubs ask for higher fees] but we’re going to make sure we pay the right valuation for any player we buy.
“Our net is cast wide and the way the market is now, especially with British players, sometimes you have to start looking elsewhere.
“I have had conversations with the chairman and owners, I spoke to them last night about what we will do moving forward. Funds are available to strengthen the squad.
“It’s a big challenge, no question. But we hope we can potentially bring in two or three players to strengthen us in various positions.
“My message to the fans would be that the club wants to move forward, we want to improve our squad and our style, we want to win more games, and we believe with the funds we have available that we can strengthen the squad and become a better team.”
Clement also insisted he will not panic as he bids to replace Sigurdsson, who scored nine goals and made 13 assists for his side last season.
“We have multiple targets because things do not always come off, you have to move to other players in that situation.
“We have to move swiftly, time is important but we will not panic. Sometimes the deals can be better in the last days.
“In terms of Gylfi, there was a wish to have another challenge and we accepted that. He has been a brilliant servant, player of the season the last two years, scoring goals and making assists and covering more distance than anyone at this level.
“It is disappointing but we were realistic that a club investing who are above us means you can lose them. It happened with Bony and Allen, the best players can get picked off.”