Crystal Palace and Brighton are going head to head in pursuit of the England Under-21 forward Dominic Solanke, who is expected to leave Liverpool next month in search of regular football.

Solanke, a prolific scorer in Chelsea’s youth teams before his controversial switch to Merseyside in 2017, has scored only one Premier League goal and is yet to play a minute of competitive action this season, having seen his progress hampered by niggling injuries and heightened competition.

However, he is now fit, comes highly recommended by coaches within England’s junior set-up and has attracted interest from both clubs, together with inquiries from Huddersfield and Fulham.

Brighton, who will welcome Dan Ashworth as director of football in the new year once he leaves the Football Association, would hope to secure the 21-year-old Solanke on a permanent basis but he may prefer a loan deal with Palace for the remainder of the campaign. The striker is behind Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi for a place on the Liverpool bench and is understood to fear Brighton’s one-striker approach could limit his chances behind Glenn Murray and Florin Andone. Palace tend to play two up front.

Roy Hodgson has acknowledged Solanke’s considerable potential, with Palace having prioritised his arrival ahead of Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi, who had been offered to them as his parent club seek to curtail a relatively unsuccessful loan with Valencia. Roma are keen to take the Belgian for the second half of the season and he may secure more opportunities to play in Serie A.

It remains to be seen whether Palace, who hope to have Christian Benteke fit at the start of next month and have Connor Wickham back after serious injury, opt to cut short Jordan Ayew’s loan from Swansea. Alexander Sørloth has been the subject of interest from a number of clubs and could continue his development on loan at Gent under their Danish manager, Jess Thorup.

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