Championship transfers: sought-after strikers

Strongly linked with a host of clubs since the end of last season including West Ham United and Leicester City, Peterborough United's Craig Mackail-Smith made a rather surprise move on Monday when opting to join Posh's fellow Championship newcomers Brighton & Hove Albion.

'He is a player that we can build our team around, which is why I was so keen to bring him here,' Seagulls boss Gus Poyet told his club's website.

'And one of the most pleasing aspects for me is that we have signed him despite interest from some other big, big teams.'

The fact that Brighton were prepared to push the boat out so much for Mackail-Smith shows that strikers who guarantee goals remain a sought-after commodity at all levels of the goal.

Bristol City are fighting hard to keep their star man Nicky Maynard in the face of interest from Southampton, Nottingham Forest and the ever-present Leicester, who also wanted the Sky Blues' Marlon King.

Ipswich have spent £1.5m on Michael Chopra and also had a big bid turned down for Billy Sharp of Doncaster Rovers while Birmingham have snapped up King and Inverness hotshot Adam Rooney.

For the Sky Blues, the loss of King will be keenly felt no matter how much faith manager Andy Thorn has in those attacking players who remain at the club.

Lukas Jutkiewicz and Gary McSheffrey especially will be expected to step up and score their fair share but the feeling persists that City will need to find another striker if they are to come close to making a challeng at the right end of the table.

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