Middlesbrough close to £14m deal for Britt Assombalonga

Britt Assombalonga is due for a medical at Middlesbrough after Nottingham Forest accepted a bid worth up to £14million for the striker.

Burnley have also been interested in the 24-year-old but were reluctant to go as high as Garry Monk’s side, who have been trying to negotiate a fee for a number of weeks.

Mark Warburton did not wish to lose his top scorer but it is understood a £15m release clause, written into the five-year contract penned last summer, weakened the club's position.

Forest would have preferred to lose Assombalonga to a Premier League team but Monk has been backed significantly by chairman Steve Gibson during this transfer window.

Burnley still retain an interest and Sean Dyche is understood to be considering a late counter move but Boro are close to completing the deal.

Assombalonga signed for Forest from Peterbrough in a deal worth £5.5m in 2014 and was an instant hit, scoring 15 goals. He missed nearly all of the 2015/16 season due to a serious knee injury but returned last season with another fine haul of 14 Championship goals.