SIX strikers Middlesbrough could sign - including Sunderland star and Leeds target

Josh Maja is one striker Middlesbrough could target in January

The Teessiders are the lowest scorers in the Championship top 10 – and the 10th lowest in the division overall.

But here are six strikers who could break the goal drought if signed in January.

Lacina Traore

Without a club since leaving Monaco in the summer, the towering 6ft 8in target man would surely tick the physicality box for Boro boss Tony Pulis.

Traore is almost a one-in-three man in 231 career appearances, and scored 36 goals in the tough Russian Premier League with CSKA Moscow, Kuban Krasnodar and Anzhi Makhachkala.

A loan spell at Everton in 2014 saw him make just one Premier League and one goalscoring FA Cup appearance.

Oumar Niasse

Senegalese forward Oumar Niasse’s 12 Premier League goals show his potential in English football.

And although he has struggled for game time under Marco Silva, Niasse’s record of 46 goals in 103 games elsewhere in Europe are proof the pace and power which could see the Senegal international catch Pulis’s eye.

Jhon Cifuente

Although largely unknown in this country, Cifuente is a potential option because of his extreme goalscoring exploits in Ecuador.

With 34 goals in 37 league games for CD Universidad Catolica, Cifuente is Latin domestic football’s leading scorer this season, and Pulis has taken a risk on an under-the-radar South American striker before in Salomon Rondon.

Tom Eaves

Closer to home, 6ft 5in League One top scorer Eaves is another player who looks to be in the Pulis mould.

Boro might have to act fast – or pay more – on the 26-year-old, as as Gillingham are set to offer Eaves a new deal, but the player would relish the opportunity of a shot at promotion to the Premier League.

Mbaye Diagne

Powerhouse striker Diagne is in red-hot form for Turkish Super Lig side Kasimpasa SK, scoring 11 goals in 11 games this season.

At 27, the Senegalese has shrugged off his journeyman tag – having had spells in China, Hungary, Italy and elsewhere - in the last 18 months.

But a move for Diagne could see Boro face competition from promotion rivals Leeds.

Josh Maja

It would ruffle feathers on Wearside, but would Sunderland golden boy Josh Maja provide the perfect boost to Boro’s attacking armoury?

Maja is reputedly attracting interest from Premier League giants Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur after his nine-goal start to the season in League One.

Played alongside a target man, Maja’s pace and movement make him a potentially attractive prospect.