League One outfits Charlton Athletic and Swindon Town have stepped up their quests to sign Colchester United midfielder George Moncur.

The talented Moncur, who ended the U’s relegation season as leading scorer with 14 goals, 12 of them in League One, is very unlikely to remain at the Essex club for the 2016-17 campaign in League Two.

Instead, the ex-West Ham 22-year-old looks poised to remain in League One, although competition is likely to be fierce amongst clubs from the third tier.

Charlton Athletic, recently relegated from the Championship, are reported to have had a £150,000 bid for Moncur turned down by the U’s.

Moncur still has a year to run on his current contract, so U’s chairman Robbie Cowling can bide his time waiting for a tempting offer – the U’s are believed to want around £500,000 for their star midfielder.

Swindon-born Moncur is also an obvious target for his home town club – Swindon Town – while Barnsley, Peterborough United and MK Dons are also in the hunt to sign Moncur.

Swindon Town chairman Lee Power recently said: “We have been talking to a number of players, and everyone knows that we like George (Moncur).

“He’s a Colchester player, there’s a fee involved, we’d have to negotiate first and there’s a number of teams in for George as well, it’s not a straightforward one.

“He is on the Christmas list.”