Portsmouth closing in on Doncaster striker and target for Sunderland and Charlton

The Blues are set to bring in the Doncaster striker as the last link in the attacking jigsaw for their Championship bid.

The club are in line to make the statement signing ahead of the new League One campaign, for a fee believed to be well in advance of £1m.

Pompey are hopeful they can fend off interest from Championship outfit Charlton and Sunderland to bring in the highly regarded goal-getter.

They made moves to bring in the 27-year-old earlier in the summer, but have refused to give up on a man Kenny Jackett sees as fundamental to his effort to reach the second tier at the third attempt.

A completed deal would mean the Blues have twice splashed cash over the past couple of weeks, with the switch following the arrival of Marcus Harness for a fee in the region of £1m.

Marquis is a player the Fratton faithful are familiar with after he made six appearances on loan, scoring two goals, at Fratton Park in 2013.

And he’s a goalscorer Jackett knows all about after working closely with the him in their time together at Millwall, where he emerged as a youngster.

Marquis has guaranteed goals in his time at the Keepmoat Stadium, smashing in 26 strikes to finish as League Two’s top scorer as Doncaster were promoted to League One behind Pompey in 2017.

That was followed by 15 finishes the following campaign before hammering in another 26 efforts last term as his team reached the play-offs.

Pompey face stiff competition for Marquis’ signature, but his preference is to return south with his wife pregnant.

The move has accelerated this week with the Blues acting swiftly in their efforts to land the Londoner ahead of the League One curtain-raiser against Shrewsbury.

A completed deal would mean Pompey have now landed eight players this summer, leaving them well stocked and balanced in terms of options for the season ahead.

Matt Clarke has gone the other way for a fee of around £4m with Jamal Lowe today close to joining Wigan for around £2.5m.

The signing of Marquis being seen to fruition is one which is sure to cause reverberations around the division, however, ahead of the new campaign.