This article is part of Football League World's 'The Verdict' series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more

Southampton are preparing to make a £15million offer for Blackburn Rovers forward Adam Armstrong, according to the Express.

Armstrong scored 29 goals in 43 appearances across all competitions this season, with 28 of those goals coming in 40 Championship outings.

The 24-year-old is now attracting interest from the Premier League, with West Ham and Newcastle interested in the prolific forward.

But according to the Express, Southampton, who are leading the race to sign Armstrong, are ready to make a £15million offer for the striker.

It may fall short of Blackburn's £20million valuation, but here, we discuss a potential £15million bid from Southampton for Armstrong...

Toby Wilding

At this moment in time, I don't think that Blackburn should be accepting that bid.

It is clear that there are a number of Premier League clubs interested in Armstrong, so it makes no sense for Rovers to simply accept the first bid when that interest could see a bidding war develop that drives his price up.

Indeed, it is also worth remembering that Newcastle have a sizeable sell-on clause of 40% in Armstrong's deal, so once you take that out of Southampton's offer, the fee Rovers would receive is likely to be well short of what they will want for a player with the quality and influence of Armstrong.

As a result, this is an offer I would be knocking back for now, although if Rovers are unable to agree a new contract with Armstrong in the coming months - with his current deal expires next summer - and if no bigger offers emerge, then this is a bid they may have to revisit later in the window, to ensure they do not lose such a valuable asset for nothing this time next year.

Ben Wignall

If this was a transfer in which Rovers would get all the money from the sale, then I'd be tempted to accept as Armstrong has just one year left on his deal and in that respect, £15 million would be good money.

However reports from Newcastle earlier this year stated that Steve Bruce's side have a 40% sell-on clause for any deal which would see the 24-year-old leave Ewood Park - that changes the outlook of things.

Should Rovers accept that figure for Armstrong they'd bank just £9 million of the money, and for a player that netted 28 goals in 40 Championship games last season that just wouldn't be enough to tempt them I don't think.

It does seem inevitable that Armstrong will be a Premier League player next season, but they should be holding out to make at least £15 million themselves from the transfer - that would mean an offer of at least £25 million would be needed to tempt Rovers to sell.

Are they going to get that? Probably not, and that would mean their hand could be forced by the player if he demands such a move, but you could say that Blackburn knew what they were getting themselves in to when they accepted the clause had to be in the deal.

Phil Spencer

I think that Blackburn Rovers should be squeezing every last penny out of this deal.

Adam Armstrong has been wonderful in the Championship over the last two seasons and so it's no surprise that clubs in the top flight are interested.

Being honest, it seems inevitable that the player will move on but Blackburn deserve to get the maximum amount from one of the Championship's most potent attackers.

£15million seems a little bit light for me - I think that clubs should be looking at closer to £20million to sign a player with one year left on his deal.

Clubs will find a way to pay up and that £5million will be huge for Blackburn moving forward.