Roy Keane wants Higginbotham at the Stadium of Light to strengthen the club's options at centre-half.

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And the Black Cats are hoping that the inducement of having former midfield general Kavanagh returning to the Potteries will clinch thee deal.

Keane has been interested in the 28-year-old central defender since the start of the summer and has previously had a £2million bid turned down.

But Higginbotham has become unsettled at the Brittania Ground and would favour a move to the North East after Sunderland showed fresh interest in the last couple of weeks.

It is believed that Sunderland have now offered £2.4million plus Kavanagh in return for the former Manchester United youth player's services.

But whether Kavanagh would want to move is a moot point.

The 33-year-old has enjoyed his time at Sunderland and has publicly committed to fighting to regaining his place at the Premiership club.

With Roy Keane having to rethink his squad in the wake of the defeat to Wigan on Saturday, Kavanagh might have fancied his chances of forcing his way back into the side.

But the Sunderland manager looks happy to sacrifice Kavanagh in order to acquire Higginbotham.

Stoke have a ready-made replacement for Higginbotham in the shape of on-loan former Sunderland defender Jody Craddock.

And City boss Tony Pulis would be happy to do business for anything over £2million in a deal which would also net him Kavanagh.

The ex-Middlesbrough midfielder was a big favourite among Stoke fans during his five-year stay in the West Midlands between 1996-2001 which saw him make more than 200 appearances.