Bournemouth are preparing an improved bid for Demarai Gray potentially worth up to £26million including add-ons.

Eddie Howe is a long-term admirer, having tracked Gray since his time at Birmingham, and saw an initial £20m bid rejected by Leicester earlier in the window.

The winger impressed again on Tuesday night by scoring a spectacular goal and assisting another in the Carabao Cup win over Sheffield United, but is expected to return to the bench for Saturday’s trip to Manchester United.

Demarai Gray has attracted interest from Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe for a while now

Gray has been frustrated at a lack of game-time, having started only 10 Premier League matches since joining from Birmingham in a £3.5m move in January 2016, and it is understood a number of Premier League clubs are monitoring the situation.

Everton and Tottenham tracked Gray’s progress for England Under-21s at this European Championships. But Leicester are adamant Gray is not for sale and the club are under no pressure to sell. It is expected Bournemouth’s second bid will also be dismissed.

The 21-year-old has held meetings with Craig Shakespeare over his role and the club are discussing an improvement to his contract, which has three seasons to run, in a sign of their commitment.

Howe saw an initial £20m bid for the winger rejected by Leicester earlier in the window

Leicester manager Shakespeare has said he held conversations with Gray ‘to speak about his playing time’ and added: ‘He is young player, one that has a bright future here with Leicester, we think a lot of him in terms of a footballer and a person.’

After the Sheffield United win, which also included a brace from Islam Slimani, a goal for Ahmed Musa, and a positive display from Andy King, Shakespeare said: ‘It was important to give the fringe players, or those who haven't played, some game time and when you do that you hope they'll respond in the right way. I thought the team responded really well. They're part of the squad and they carry on.

‘We'll need everyone as we go along because it's a tough old season in the Premier League and whether it's a loss of form, a change of tactics or injuries, you have all that to contend with.’