League One rival opens up about pursuit of Sunderland-linked defender

The 21-year-old is a free agent having left Burnley this summer, the left-back has been linked with several clubs including the Black Cats, who are on the lookout for defensive reinforcements.

Bowyer told the South London Press: “He’s still just training with us. We’ll keep looking at him.

“But like I’ve said before – many, many times – we have to pick the right people.”

Any potential deal is complicated by the fact that the youngster turned down a new deal at Turf Moor in the summer, meaning any potential buyer will have to pay compensation.

Meanwhile, Ipswich Town boss Paul Lambert has confirmed the club did not make a contract offer to former Sunderland target Luke Garbutt, who has since signed for Blackpool.

Lambert said: “We couldn't do anything with him because of the situation. Everybody thought Garbs was going to go to the Championship because he played that well for us.

“So that's where we left it, we thought he was going to have a lot of takers up one division higher, so we just left it like that. Then he went to Blackpool so good luck to him there.”

When asked if there was an offer on the table for him, Lambert added: “No, there wasn’t because everybody assumed he was going to go to the Championship. I think his agent wanted a helluva lot of money and there was no way we could have afforded that.”

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