STRIKER Lewis Grabban looks set to leave Dean Court after Cherries tonight confirmed they had accepted an offer from Championship rivals Cardiff City.

The undisclosed bid – which is understood to have triggered a £3million release clause in Grabban’s contract – was tabled by the Bluebirds this afternoon.

As a result, Cherries were obliged to give Grabban permission to speak to the recently-relegated Premier League outfit and he is due to head to south Wales to discuss personal terms.

Should he finalise a move to the Cardiff City Stadium, it would represent a record fee received by Cherries, dwarfing the £1m paid by Burnley for Danny Ings in August 2011.

And it would also see Cherries bank £1.9m more than they would have had he joined Brighton in January after the Seagulls had met a £1.1m release clause in his previous contract.

Grabban joined Cherries in a £300,000 deal from Rotherham two years ago and the Yorkshire outfit are understood to be entitled to a percentage of any potential sale.

Speculation surrounding Grabban’s future mounted after the season had ended with Cardiff, Middlesbrough, Brighton and Crystal Palace all linked with the frontman.

And reports which surfaced this morning suggested Boro were leading the race for the south Londoner, with Sky Sports claiming the Teessiders had made an “approach” and an “official move” for the player.

However, Cardiff, managed by former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, made the first move and clearly see Grabban as the perfect foil for new signing Javi Guerra from Real Valladolid.

Grabban saw his stock rise sharply after netting 22 times for Cherries last season, finishing the campaign as one of the leading goalscorers in the Championship.

He committed his future to Cherries and was rewarded with an improved three-and-a-half year deal after rejecting Brighton’s overtures four months ago.

In an interview with the Daily Echo on Saturday, Grabban said: “People might look at where we have come from and the stadium and see us as a small club but we have a wealthy owner so it doesn’t look like we need to sell players.”

And on being linked with former club Palace, he added: “As a player, it is a compliment to be linked with other clubs. Everyone has ambitions to play in the Premier League.”