Derby County have fallen behind their promotion rivals in the race for a prolific striker.
Reports emerged last month that The Rams were in pursuit of AFC Wimbledon’s Ali Al-Hamadi.
The 21-year-old joined the London club from Wycombe Wanderers in January, having struggled to impress in League One.
However, it didn’t take long for Ali Al-Hamadi to kickstart his career in the fourth tier, netting 10 goals in only 19 games in the second half of the campaign and also being named the EFL Young Player of the Month for February.
The Iraq international has quickly picked up where he left off this term, matching his goal tally for last season and also adding five assists in League Two.
Al-Hamadi has now bagged four braces in his last five games for AFC Wimbledon and is continuing to attract more interest.
The previous report claimed that Derby were joined by the likes of Leeds United, Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers in the chase for the young prospect.
However, TEAMtalk have now reported that it is Peterborough United who are looking to swoop in and win the race for Al-Hamadi.
Posh are said to be lining up a deal worth £1.5 million to lure the forward to the Weston Homes Stadium, in place of the outgoing Jonson Clarke-Harris.
Al-Hamadi reportedly has a large number of Championship clubs after him, but it could be Peterborough that reap the rewards of his talent as they are ‘pushing hardest’ for his signature.
Al-Hamadi would be joining the likes of Dwight Gayle and Ivan Toney to end up in the Premier League after successful stints with Posh.
How costly could this be for Derby County?
That could spell bad news for Derby though, who could not only miss out on a transfer target but also see their rivals strengthened too.
Peterborough currently sit only two points ahead of Derby, in fourth place in League One. If Darren Ferguson’s side recruit Al-Hamadi in January then that could really bolster their chances of winning promotion.
Derby were previously in desperate need of a top striker in the summer, with James Collins and Martyn Waghorn definitely not disappointing so far, netting 13 goals between them.
Though they could still be full of regret if it is their failure to land Ali Al-Hamadi that costs them at the end of the campaign.