The Black Cats came close to signing the free-scoring 25-year-old in the January transfer window and those avenues of contact between the two clubs remain open.

But new Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is also believed to be tracking Chilean international striker Humberto Suazo (pictured, left).
And this morning the Wearsiders were linked with Bordeaux's Moroccan-born frontman Marouane Chamakh.

Sunderland have yet to make a close-season signing but the hold-up has nothing to do with Bruce and chairman Niall Quinn having been on their holidays and everything to do with getting the right man at the right price.

There's also the question of getting in the right characters, with the Sunderland chairman having already signalled that this is an area where the club has let itself down in the past.

"We have to take the time to make sure that we get the right players in – players who have the sort of character needed to be a success in the North East," he said.

"And one of our priorities now is to take the time to make sure that we know we are getting the right sort of player in – there's nothing more important in football than successful player recruitment.

"But in Steve Bruce we know we've got a manager in charge who has an excellent track record in that direction."

While Bent has been on the radar all summer, Sunderland are in no rush as they continue to scour the markets.

Humberto Suazo of Mexican side Monterrey, is just the sort of striker who has attracted Bruce in the past and indeed the manager was linked with an interest in the 28-year-old during his time at Wigan.

Bruce signed the prolific Egyptian international Amr Zaki because the forward topped a Fifa list of the world's top strikers and Suazo has similar credentials – in 2006 he was credited by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics as the world's top goalscorer that year.

Bruce is old school in that he believes the stats rarely lie when it comes to goalscoring.

And as well as scoring 33 goals in 63 appearances for Monterrey, to add to the 70 in 75 he scored for former club Colo Colo, the diminutive Suazo also has 13 goals in 35 international appearances for Chile.

Sunderland are also considering a move for Bordeaux's Marouane Chamkh, who is reputed to be a target for Arsenal. A figure of £12m has been mentioned for Chamkh, who is also interesting Tottenham and Villa.

But Sunderland have yet to give up on Portsmouth's unsettled frontman Peter Crouch and have asked to be kept informed of the England striker's situation.