Huddersfield Town: Grayson hails capture of Lynch

Grayson beat off a host of rival interest to land the 24-year-old, who recently left Championship rivals Nottingham Forest.

Grayson, who had already signed Adam Clayton, Sean Scannell, Paul Dixon and Oliver Norwood so far this summer, said: “This is a fantastic deal for us because, without going into too much detail, around six to eight Championship and two Premier League clubs showed a very strong interest in Joel.

“Joel is a strong, athletic, left-sided centre half who can also play at left back.

“He’s a good age and a great lad and he was a big influence in keeping Nottingham Forest up last season.

“The fact that he has chosen to come to us is evidence that people are really buying into what we’re trying to do here – it’s a real coup for Town.”

Town are also leading the race to sign Leeds United striker Ross McCormack.

United are expected to announce to signing of keeper Paddy Kenny this lunch-time on a three-year deal, with the 34-year-old arriving from QPR for a fee in the region of £500,000.

United boss Warnock is also making moves to finalise several other signings, including Pompey duo Luke Varney and David Norris and Leicester City full-back Lee Peltier.

Pompey boss Michael Appleton is expecting the futures of Varney and Norris to be finally decided today or tomorrow with the south coast club desperate to offload them to help reduce their wage bill and raise cash to facilitate a prospective takeover.

Meanwhile, ex-Bradford and Huddersfield keeper Simon Eastwood is on a week-long trial at Pompey.

Sheffield United have been linked with a move for ex-Carlisle wingman Francois Zoko.