Bournemouth are one of a number of Sky Bet Championship clubs that are said to be interested in signing Derby County captain Tom Lawrence, as per a recent report by the Daily Mail.

Also a target for Swansea City, Stoke City and West Brom, Lawrence appears set to be allowed to depart Pride Park on a free transfer in January as the Rams seek to get a handle of their financial affairs.

The Cherries are understandably keen to build upon their fine start to their league campaign by looking to strengthen the squad further in the new year, with Lawrence ticking several boxes for the South Coast side as a target.

At present Jaidon Anthony is the only player within the squad who is capable of operating as a natural left winger, which means that there is definitely scope for bringing the Derby captain in to add depth and experience to that faction of the pitch.

Add to the fact that Lawrence also now possesses good experience being a leader in the dressing room and it is easy to see why Scott Parker would be keen on signing another player who is capable of acting as a mentor to his young squad, as has been seen with the previous addition of Gary Cahill.

The chance to sign a player of Lawrence's standing and obvious quality doesn't come around often at Championship level, so therefore the Cherries will have to pull out all the stops if they want to beat off the aforementioned competition from the other interested parties in order to convince the midfielder that his career would be best served on the South Coast.

Their league position and style of play will certainly stand them in good stead, whilst they also have the financial capabilities to match the player's high salary.

All in all this could be an opportunity that is too good to turn down for the promotion chasers in January.