Exclusive:Developments over Portsmouth transfer target as £1.5m man’s stance becomes clear with Derby County, Norwich City, Preston North End & Co entering race
The likes of Charlton Athletic, Lincoln City and premier European sides such as Valencia and Schalke are keen on the highly-touted Dundee man.
The race is intensifying for in-demand Pompey target Luke Graham.
But The News understands a move to Fratton Park still appeals to the rising Scottish star.
Championship and European clubs want Graham - but Pompey move appeals
That’s despite a huge swathe of top-drawer European and Championship clubs now being on the trail of the central defender.
As many as 13 Championship sides are among a whopping total of 43 outfits to have now registered their interest in Graham.
Derby County, Norwich City, Stoke City, Lincoln City, Charlton Athletic and Preston North End are all trailing the man the Blues made a January transfer target priority.
Meanwhile, Schalke, Valencia, Sturm Graz and Red Bull Salzburg are believed to be keen on the 22-year-old from across the continent.
Polish high-fliers Lech Poznan and Jagiellonia Białystok have shown firm interest along with Portuguese outfit Famalicão, who are willing to go beyond the £1.5m offer tabled by the Blues in the winter window.
But offering a similar figure and including a healthy sell-on clause in the agreement is expected to be enough to land the player, who’s touted to be in Scotland’s provisional World Cup squad named next week.
Scottish giants Rangers and Celtic remain keen on Graham but his preference is to move to the Championship, as he looks certain to leave Dens Park this summer.
The talent who was shortlisted for the SPFL young player of the year after an outstanding campaign. is about to enter the final year of his existing agreement with Dundee.
That raises the prospect of the 6ft 4in man leaving the SPL outfit as a free agent next year and his club receiving just training compensation, if he doesn’t move on across the summer window.
Despite the swathe of clubs chasing Graham, the prospect of regular playing time at Pompey and potentially working with John Mousinho is something the defender would like to do.
Pompey are pushing on with their summer transfer plans, despite the continuing speculation over the future of Mousinho.
They are well stocked in the centre-back department with Madiodio Dia supplementing that area of the pitch when arriving late in the January window.
Conor Shaughnessy, Regan Poole, Hayden Matthews, Ibane Bowat and Josh Knight are the other specialist considerations in that department.
The Blues football operation is expected to review the options there in pre-season, before coming to a decision on what the future holds for those players.