Brighton & Hove Albion are looking to steal a march on their rivals in the race to land Celtic striker Moussa Dembele.

Sources close to Dembele have told me that the French striker is keen to secure a move in January as he still holds out some hope he could make a late charge for a place in Didier Deschamps World Cup squad.

It remains to be seen if Brighton will be able to convince him to make the move to the Amex Stadium but they are putting together a club record bid of around £20milion for Dembele.

Sources close to the situation insist that there has been contact between the two clubs.

There is rival interest from a number of Brighton’s Premier League rivals, and that is one reason they have tried to get the deal done quickly for the 21-year-old.

Dembele joined Celtic from Fulham in 2016 and has excelled in Glasgow, although injuries this season have limited him to just six league starts.

Bookmakers have reacted to Brighton’s move and Unibet make them odds-on to be his club in February rather than Celtic.