Details surrounding Sunderland's £1m plus bid for defender revealed as Black Cats linked with Premier League youngster

Sunderland defeated AFC Wimbledon in League One on Saturday afternoon and face Blackpool in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening.
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A second-half strike from Carl Winchester was enough to hand the Wearsiders three points and leave the Black Cats fifth after four games played.

Lee Johnson has added seven first-team players to his squad so far this window.

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Here, though, we take you through all of the latest talk surrounding Sunderland and their League One rivals:

Josh Key.Josh Key.
Josh Key.

Sky Sports presenter links Sunderland with two deals

Sky Sports News presenter and Sunderland fan Tom White has revealed some details regarding the Black Cats’ transfer targets.

Speaking to Roker Report, he said: “We are in for a player from Arsenal called Ryan Alebiosu. Never seen him play, hadn’t heard of him until someone told me about him. We’re in for him but at this stage it’s only in talks. He’s a full-back, don’t even know if he’s right or left.

Sunderland are also said to have placed multiple bids for 21-year-old Exeter right-back Josh Key, including an offer for £1million plus add-ons.

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Exeter, however, have rejected the Black Cats’ sizeable offer.

“There was a lot of talk about an Exeter right back, Josh Key, we had a few bids rejected for,” White said.

“I saw a few conspiracy theories going around that the club had leaked that information to try and appease the fans as we hadn’t signed anyone at that stage.

“Well I can assure you that story is absolutely not true, we’ve been in for this Josh Key from Exeter all summer and haven’t been able to get him. I don’t know if that deal is now off now that we’ve signed [Niall] Huggins but we were absolutely in for him and would spend quite a bit of money on him.

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“Just in case there is anybody out there that thinks it was planted by the club, the club have been silent for the local and national media all summer, so that story was not leaked from the club because I know where it came from myself. We were very much in for him,

“This guy from Arsenal, Alebiosu, that would be a loan but at this stage we haven’t actually made the offer. It’s just a case of ’in talks’.”

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