Cats hope to bring in young star as move for Villans duo falls short
SUNDERLAND have reportedly joined the queue of clubs interested in taking highly-rated Manchester City defender Tosin Adarabioyo.
The England Under 19 international has been linked with a host of clubs this summer including Newcastle United, Sheffield Wednesday, Fulham and Preston.
And Sunderland boss Simon Grayson’s interest in the 19-year-old is known to date back to his time in charge at Deepdale. With Papy Djilobodji surplus to requirements on Wearside, Sunderland have only three recognised senior centrebacks in the shape of Lamine Kone, Ty Browning, and John O’Shea - and Kone’s future at the club is uncertain, with transfer rumours surrounding him all summer.
But even if Kone stays, Grayson would like to add another central defender as cover, rather than rely on fielding full-backs Billy Jones or Adam Matthews in an unfamiliar position as he has done on occasion.
Adarabioyo looked set to leave the Etihad this summer when there was a stand-off between him and the club over a new contract.
But City eventually backed down and gave him the lucrative new deal he was demanding - an indication of how highly he is thought of by boss Pep Guardiola.
Academy graduate Adarabioyo has yet to make his Premier League debut for City, although he has played in the Champions League, the FA Cup and the EFL Cup, for the Mancunians.
He is understood to be keen to go out on loan to get first-team experience. Meanwhile, Sunderland will try to persuade Aston Villa to loan them Ross McCormack on deadline day, but it seems they will miss out on his club-mate Tommy Elphick.
The Black Cats identified the outof-favour duo as targets before the season started. But deals for both hit an impasse perhaps partly while the Black Cats tried to move players on.
Sunderland tried to resurrect a loan for Elphick yesterday, but are understood to have been told the defender is not available. Now they will have to turn their attention elsewhere, with Manchester City defender Tosin Adarabioyo linked.
As the Black Cats are heavily in debt and have been unable to sell any senior players since Vito Mannone joined Reading on July 19, they are limited in what they can do in the transfer market.
They had hoped to sell Lamine Kone and Wahbi Khazri but went into the final 24 hours of business with the centre-back still on board, and Khazri only set to leave on loan. The Tunisian playmaker was spotted arriving for a medical in Rennes yesterday.
Premier League clubs are only allowed to loan one player from a rival but in the Football League the limit is four per season. Sides can name five on-loan players in a matchday squad.
Sunderland already have Brendan Galloway and Tyias Browning on loan from Everton, and Lewis Grabban from Bournemouth.
Both Elphick and McCormack have the Championship experience Grayson has been looking for this summer but England youth international Adarabioyo does not. Only Galloway and free transfer Robbin Ruiter have been signed without any. The Yorkshireman also puts great store on those who know his methods, and McCormack played for him at Leeds United.