Middlesbrough, Burnley and Cardiff City join Wolves in transfer race for £10m star | OneFootball

A seven-club Championship transfer race is now shaping up for the signing of Brighton and Hove Albion winger Amario Cozier-Duberry

The battle among Championship clubs for Brighton and Hove Albion's Amario Cozier-Duberry is accelerating towards next week's transfer deadline day, with the likes of Burnley, Cardiff City, Middlesbrough and Millwall all joining the race in an effort to secure the winger's sought-after services before the window concludes.

Cozier-Duberry has emerged as a hot property throughout the summer months following a sensational breakout loan spell at Bolton Wanderers, where he inspired Steven Schumacher's side to promotion via the League One play-offs back in May.

But, as Bolton's odds of landing a stunning return to Greater Manchester for the coveted forward look to be remote, with a host of Championship sides are intensifying their interest in completing a deal as a pulse-racing seven-club transfer battle looms in the final days of the window.`

Middlesbrough, Burnley, Cardiff and Millwall join Amario Cozier-Duberry transfer race

This latest development in Cozier-Duberry's future comes courtesy of an update from Darren Witcoop, where it has been reported that numerous outfits across the second-tier have now joined the race for the 21-year-old starlet.

According to Witcoop, Brighton have presented a new contract to Cozier-Duberry with the intention of sanctioning a third loan exit from the Amex Stadium, which has put various suitors on red alert as new twists emerge.

Action Images

Reports elsewhere, however, have suggested that the Londoner is yet to put pen-to-paper on fresh terms, with The Athletic's Andy Naylor believing that the Seagulls are set to either retain his services within Fabian Hurzeler's first-team squad or agree a permanent departure.

By Witcoop, though, it has been claimed that promotion hopefuls in Burnley, Middlesbrough and Millwall, coupled with ambitious South Wales rivals Cardiff City and Swansea, are all contenders for the former Bolton loan star, accompanying previously-reported interest from freshly-relegated pair Wolves and West Ham that still remains.

Witcoop has played down any chance of a return to Bolton, indeed reporting that such a move has never been on the cards for the two clubs and the player in question - which will come as a surprise to Trotters supporters considering that Cozier-Duberry's dazzling displays on loan helped Schumacher's men to end a long exile from the Championship.

One destination that could be the winger's next, however, is Cardiff, who beat Bolton to automatic promotion out of League One and have been in the market for added options out wide all summer, having been dealt a similar blow to Wanderers by missing out on a return for 25/26 loan hero Omari Kellyman.

As per Witcoop, the Bluebirds represent a serious option and shouldn't be ruled out, describing the newly-promoted Welsh side as being "very much in the player's thinking" with a noted fondness for Brian Barry-Murphy's much-welcomed brand of front-footed possession-based football.

Brighton have changed Amario Cozier-Duberry transfer stance as Middlesbrough, Burnley, Cardiff and Millwall lurk

The new update provides a drastic twist after previous expectations surrounding Cozier-Duberry's immediate future, with prior reports having stated that Brighton were poised to cash in on the one-time Arsenal academy prospect two years after bringing him down to Sussex from North London.

Earlier in the window, Scottish giants Rangers reportedly saw a £7.5 million bid rejected and the Seagulls were cited as holding a punchy £10 million asking price.

However, that stance could have changed rather dramatically with just days to spare of the summer window, with Brighton now looking to tie down Cozier-Duberry's long-term future and give the green-light to a loan in the Championship to accelerate his development amid wide-ranging interest across the second-tier landscape.

The decision to potentially provide a loan exit as opposed to holding out for an eight-figure outlay that would've been unaffordable for many Championship clubs has seemingly prompted new interest from a series of sides, though Cozier-Duberry has been a wanted man since well before the summer window even started after shining on loan in League One with Bolton.

Cozier-Duberry was one of the third-tier's standout performers in the previous campaign, registering nine goals and 10 assists from 37 appearances and ultimately inspiring Wanderers to promotion despite missing more than two months through injury.

Often with an eye for the spectacular, Bolton worked hard to retain Cozier-Dubbery for the season's entirety but will now be braced to see the gifted attacker strutting his stuff for a Championship rival instead as they look to re-establish themselves at the level under Schumacher.

Amario Cozier-Duberry would improve Middlesbrough, Burnley, Cardiff and Millwall

Despite not having yet earned his stripes in the Championship, Cozier-Duberry's footballing ceiling remains remarkably high with plenty of development still ahead and the X-Factor talent level at play means he would be a needle-mover in a range of Championship sides.

Middlesbrough, for example, are among the leading contenders for promotion after losing out in last season's play-off final, though many on Teesside still believe that Kim Hellberg can upgrade on divisive right-sided forward Morgan Whittaker, who provided 14 strikes and a further seven assists in 25/26 but struggles for consistency in big-game matches and perhaps has more limitations to his overall game than Cozier-Duberry.

Burnley do have a seriously-talented right-flank operator to call upon in maverick winger Marcus Edwards, though his own inconsistency and a shortage of depth in the way of natural options for that side of the final third gives sense to a move for the coveted Brighton ace.

As for Cardiff, of course, a new right winger is on the agenda after Chelsea decided to reject the aforementioned Kellyman's preference of a return to the Welsh capital in order to sell the versatile playmaker to sister club Strasbourg, with Ollie Tanner and Chris Willock representing Barry-Murphy's only out-and-out wide-men at this moment in time.

Millwall's interest, though, may just be conditional amid increasing speculation of Femi Azeez's exit from The Den, and with Brighton among the list of suitors for Alex Neil's star man, many Lions supporters would like that potential blow to be softened by getting a replacement of Cozier-Duberry's ilk to move the other way.

Wolves would also benefit from strengthening their stable of wingers, though the presence of both talismanic figure Jarrod Bowen and Manor Solomon at West Ham means that Brighton may not envisage a switch to that corner of East London as the best landing spot - and Swansea's combined £10m+ outlay on two new wingers already in World Cup hero Elijah Just and Joseph Opoku could place Vitor Matos' side in the same boat as far as the Seagulls are concerned.