Albion could be forced into breaking their transfer record to sign a striker – because of the spiralling cost of goalscorers.

The Seagulls bought Craig Mackail-Smith from Peterborough for £3.25 million five years ago.

Boss Chris Hughton told The Argus: “Could it be broken? Yes, of course. Whether it will be, I don’t know.

“If you look at when the club paid that fee, if we were looking to buy that type of player now it would be considerably more.

“You look at Andre Gray at Burnley, what Bournemouth have done. The jump has been massive, so that has made it harder. You have to look for real value-for-money.”

Albion remain keen on bringing Glenn Murray, an established performer at Championship level, back to the club from Bournemouth.

The Argus revealed last month they face forking out a seven-figure fee for the 32-year-old, whose contract with the Premier League Cherries still has two seasons to run.

Albion could look abroad again in search of better value, although that has more risks. They signed first Leo Ulloa, then Tomer Hemed from Spanish club Almeria.

Last season they tried to buy Argentinian Jonathan Calleri from Boca Juniors.

Hughton needs two front men after Bobby Zamora was released and James Wilson returned to Manchester United. One of them may, like Wilson, end up being a loan signing.

Meanwhile, Albion will face Serie A big guns Lazio at the Amex in pre-season.

The Italian outfit, whose squad currently includes three members of the Azzurri squad doing great things in France, will visit on Sunday, July 31 (3pm) to round off the Seagulls’ pre-season programme.

Albion will use the match as a final dress rehearsal before going to Derby County six days later.

The Roman club, who finished eighth in the Italian top-flight last season, will be settling in under new coach Marcelo Bielsa ahead of the Serie A kick-off three weeks later.