Leicester City are the favourites to sign Pescara striker Gianluca Lapadula this summer, according to the Serie B club's president Daniele Sebastiani.
Earlier this week, Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri confirmed that his club were interested in signing the 26-year-old, who has scored 24 goals in 38 league games this season.
Lazio and Napoli are also interested in the striker, but Sebastiani has revealed that Premier League champions Leicester are currently at the head of the queue.
"[Lazio President Claudio] Lotito and [sporting director Igli] Tare made their interest in Lapadula clear to me in a recent meeting," Sebastiani told Radio Incontro Olmypia.
"Lazio are very much interested. They have been monitoring him for some time and they want [to buy] him. However the competition is fierce, both in Italy and abroad.
"Juventus, who have already acquired [Pescara's Rolando] Mandragora, Napoli and above all Leicester are on the hunt for our striker. At the moment [Claudio] Ranieri's side are decisively ahead, even if, as has happened with [Marco] Verratti in the past, I would not like to see Lapadula play and succeed in a top European club rather than in a top Italian club."
Leicester won their first top-flight title in the club's 132-year history with two games of the season left.
Matt Law
