Sunderland AFC transfer news: £10m January target Leonardo Ulloa keen to leave Leicester City

Sunderland have an interest in Ulloa, with Swansea City also keen to recruit his services when the January transfer window opens.

Leicester are understood to have slapped a £10million price tag on his head, with the Foxes keen to make a profit on the striker they signed for £8million from Brighton in 2014.

Ulloa has since fallen down the pecking order at the home of the Premier League champions and he is yet to start a league match this campaign.

All seven of his appearances in the top flight have come from the bench and Ulloa is now behind summer signing Islam Slimani, Jamie Vardy, Ahmed Musa and Shinji Okazaki in the pecking order.

A January exit looks on the cards for prolific 6ft 1ins striker Ulloa - with Sunderland among those interested.

A source told the Sun: "Leo is wanted by other clubs and is keen on exploring his options in January, there is a problem at Leicester and a solution needs to be found.

"There was interest from Sunderland in the last window but it did not work out.

"He was happy to start from the bench last season as Leicester were going for the title and you cannot argue with that."

Swansea fancied the Argentine - signed for £8million from Brighton in 2014 - in the summer but Claudio Ranieri wasn’t keen to let him go until Slimani had settled in.

Sunderland - once again battling for Premier League survival - will need reinforcements when the window opens with a striker on the wishlist to help relieve some of the pressure from Jermain Defoe, although Victor Anichebe is now fully fit and starred in the 2-1 win over Bournemouth.

But the club is working within tight financial parameters, with funds for the January transfer window limited and the wage bill close to the Financial Fair Play regulations cap.