Fulham are monitoring Eredivisie top scorer Vangelis Pavlidis, who hopes to leave AZ Alkmaar this month.

Chelsea, Barcelona and AC Milan have also sent scouts to watch the 25-year-old Greek striker in recent weeks.

AZ are braced for January bids for Pavlidis, who has scored 18 goals in 16 league matches this season.

While Fulham are actively tracking Pavlidis and other strikers, they may only firm up their interest this month if either Carlos Vinicius or Rodrigo Muniz move abroad.

Pavlidis wanted to move to a club in the Champions League last summer, but no top clubs approached AZ or the player directly so he stayed in the Netherlands.

The Greece international told De Telegraaf this weekend: “Are there things going on? I don’t talk about that now — I prefer to keep that to myself.

“It is clear that I am physically and technically ready to take the next step. The transfer window in the winter is of course different than in the summer. It is more difficult in several ways. That is why I don’t know whether this is the right time.

“Everyone knows that I wanted to take the next step last summer. In the end it was not the right time, because a suitable club did not present itself.”