Grayson can’t yet see Woods for the Bees

SUNDERLAND have been linked with a move for Brentford’s Ryan Woods, but the Bees will not let their midfielder go easily.

Simon Grayson has already shown his ambition in the transfer market by targeting Republic of Ireland winger Aiden McGeady and Ryan Snodgrass, who West Ham United paid £10.2m for in January.

Woods does not have the profile of either but the important difference is that the 23-year-old defensive midfielder is highly rated at Griffin Park, where he has three years of his contract still to run.

Woods won Brentford’s player’s player of the year award and is seen as part of the club’s longterm future, having signed a four-year contract only 11 months ago.

At the time, coach Dean Smith called him “a very important part of the plans moving forward”. Co-director of football Phil Giles said: “He has been an important part of our team in the past year and look forward to that being the case in seasons to come.”

Grayson will hope the greater potential of Sunderland turns Woods’ head.

Sunderland released the injuryprone Jan Kirchhoff and Steven Pienaar at the end of their contracts this summer, and Sebastian Larsson rejected the offer of a new contract. Lee Cattermole captained the side in their opening pre-season friendly at Bury on Friday but he too has a history of injury problems.

The Black Cats are expected to be without Paddy McNair for the first two months of the season after he needed a second “clean-up” operation after the cruciate ligament damage he suffered in November.

But they do have Darron Gibson, who played as a holding midfielder after joining from Everton in January, and must decide whether to keep Didier Ndong – who can play the full range of midfield roles – or cash in on the club’s record signing. Selling Jack Rodwell is unlikely to be an option as he is the only member of the first-team squad who has not taken a pay cut after relegation, and will therefore be hard to move on permanently.

On his first full day in charge, Grayson highlighted how he would be looking for British players with Championship experience.

Woods joined ambitious Brentford in August 2015 from Shrewsbury Town for a fee believed to be £1m. He started life at the New Meadow as a utility player, making his debut at rightback, but has settled into a holding midfield position.