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Middlesbrough are prepared to smash their transfer record to land Britt Assombalonga - but still face a battle to land the Nottingham Forest striker.

If Boro are to sign the in-demand penalty box poacher they will first have to overcome the glitz and glamour lure of the Premier League.

It is understood that after weeks of flirting with Forest, Middlesbrough chiefs have now lodged a firm bid that with a hefty double-figure up front fee and add-ons may tot up to £14m if they win promotion.

That is well above the £12.7m Boro shelled out to Heerenveen for Brazilian flop front-man Afonso Alves in January 2008.

It is far higher than the £8m bid from Premier League Burnley that Forest rejected last week, and it is richer too than the £10m move from top flight Watford that Forest knocked back on Monday.

Boro are ready to top their rivals on personal terms too with some reports suggesting a £60,000 wage is part of the massive package.

But the Gazette understands that while Boro may have offered Forest the most money, the striker switch is far from cut and dried.

They will still have to compete with the pulling power of the Premier League.

Ambitious Assombalonga is eager to play in the top-flight and his camp are advising that with the firm interest from two top-flight sides and a possibility that others are waiting in the wings, he should be in no rush to succumb to Boro's advances.

And it would suit Forest too if they could lure the big boys into a bidding war and it may be in their interests to drag the deal out.

So while Boro are in pole position - they have put the biggest bid on the table after rivals’ were rejected - they still have some way to go to persuade Assombalonga that his long term football future is best served by a move to Teesside.

They will be keen for face-to-face talks to press their case that he can be a Premier League player at Boro, and a key player in Garry Monk’s promotion project.

The former Peterborough forward is currently in the United States at a training camp with Mark Warburton’s squad, but they are due to return from Florida on Friday.