Fabrizio Romano reveals huge Sunderland transfer blow with Burnley in "advanced talks" to sign 46-goal winger

Sunderland have been handed a blow in their pursuit of Sporting winger Marcus Edwards.

Generally operating as a right winger, but with the capacity to feature on the opposite flank or in a central advanced midfield role too, the Spurs academy graduate has found game time hard to come by in Portugal this season and has been limited to just 10 appearances in all competitions.

Reports over the weekend had suggested that Sunderland were considering a move for the 46-career goal winger. However, transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has now stated that Burnley are in “advanced talks” to sign the player during the winter window. He said: “Burnley are in advanced talks to sign Marcus Edwards from Sporting as negotiations are at final stages. Scott Parker, key factor for Edwards’ decision as they were teammates at Tottenham.”

Edwards has been on the books at Sporting since 2022, when he signed from fellow Portuguese side Vitoria de Guimaraes. Prior to his move to the Iberian peninsula, he came through the ranks at Tottenham and enjoyed loan spells with Norwich City and Dutch outfit Excelsior. Opportunities for the Englishman have dwindled in recent months, however, and he has registered just 346 minutes of action across all competitions so far this term - including a 68-minute outing in a Champions League defeat at the hands of Arsenal back in November.

Alongside Sunderland and Burnley, a number of other English sides have been credited with an interest in Edwards this January, with the likes of Crystal Palace and Everton touted as admirers. To that end, Portuguese outlet A Bola have suggested that Sporting are eager to part ways this month, and would be open to offers as low as £6.7 million. Whether Sunderland are pursuing a permanent deal or a loan agreement for the player is not clarified by the continental sources.

While the understanding has been that the Black Cats are in the market for a centre-forward over the coming days, head coach Regis Le Bris did suggest in a recent press conference that they could also be tempted by the prospect of signing a more versatile attacking talent instead.

He said: "Probably we still need some more vertical threats, players who could run in behind. This could be a striker but also a winger, maybe a versatile player. So this is still very much in our mind, but we will see what comes in these next weeks. But it is not necessarily about a number nine."