Encouraging 17-word update shared on Sunderland's pursuit of Roma midfielder Enzo Le Fee by reporter

There has been a fresh update on Sunderland’s pursuit of midfielder Enzo Le Fee.

The potential transfer has caught fire over the last 24 hours, with several reports in Italy suggesting that the Black Cats have moved ahead of Real Betis and are negotiating to get a deal done during the current transfer window, which opened eight days ago.

Those reports in Italy have now had weight added to them via Michael Walker of The Athletic and the Irish Times. Writing on his BlueSky account, Walker provided an update to Sunderland fans regarding the club’s pursuit of Le Fee. He said: “Enzo Le Fee loan from Roma to Sunderland is real. Not done but definite interest from SAFC.”

The 24-year-old moved from Sunderland head coach Régis Le Bris’ old club Lorient to Roma last summer in a move worth around £20million but has struggled for regular game time and looks set to leave the Serie A club during the window.

Speaking in an interview with the Free Foot YouTube channel, Le Fee recently said: “This summer I actually didn’t really have any intention of changing teams, I was happy at Rennes, even if I had a bit of difficulty feeling at home. “This is because already at the start of last season, with Bruno Genesio, things didn’t go as planned and because I felt I needed a period of adaptation. After he was fired, I was starting to find my football again and integrating well and Julien Stéphan arrived.

“With him I started to play well but, unfortunately, in the Coupe de France I got injured and that slowed me down. I came back towards the end of the season, but without feeling at home and without receiving the affection of the fans and that bothered me. So this summer I took the trouble to leave Rennes. We then received a call from Florent Ghisolfi who had the opportunity to bring me to Roma.”

Le Bris’ Sunderland are next in action against Mark Robins’ Stoke City at the Stadium of Light in the FA Cup this coming Saturday.