Championship outfit Birmingham City are set to rival Premier League side Brighton for the signature of Lille and Portugal forward Eder, reports L’Equipe.

The 29-year-old only moved to the French club last year following a hugely unsuccessful time at Swansea City, in which he failed to net in 15 appearances for the South Wales outfit.

But a fruitful loan spell with Lille in the second half of the 2015/16 campaign, in which he scored six goals in 14 games, earned him a permanent move to the Ligue 1 club, with whom he then netted seven times and laid on six assists for last term to help them to an 11th place finish in the French top-flight.

Yet it appears that the Portugal international, who of course bagged the winning goal in their Euro 2016 final victory over France, could be let go by Lille this summer, and his apparent availability has reportedly attracted interest from Harry Redknapp’s Birmingham and Chris Hughton’s Brighton.

The Blues are slightly short on attacking options and saw star forward Che Adams suffer a hamstring injury in their win over Bristol City over the weekend, leaving Clayton Donaldson as their only fit striker heading into tonight’s encounter with Bolton Wanderers.

And this recent blow could force manager Redknapp into the transfer window for another forward, and reports suggest that he, as well as Brighton, have made contact with Lille over a move for Eder, although both sides reportedly are in favour of a loan move and not a permanent one.

And with reported interest from other clubs around the continent, it remains to be seen where Eder is plying his trade come the August 31 deadline.

The Verdict: Little over a year on from arguably the biggest moment of his career in the Euro 2016 final, Portugal international Eder could be about to leave Ligue 1 outfit Lille.

The 29-year-old impressed during a loan spell at the club in 2016 but failed to live up to those standards last season, but could be the ideal signing for Harry Redknapp’s Birmingham, who are going through something of a striker crisis at present.

Both Che Adams and Lukas Jutkiewicz are side-lined and could be for a while longer, so securing a loan move for Eder could be in the best interests of the Midlands outfit, both for now while they are short on options, but also for the season as whole given the long, hard slog that is a Championship campaign.

Birmingham fans… what do you make of the news? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!