£3.5m ex-Sunderland striker linked with Birmingham City, Jordan Henderson update, Ross Stewart latest

Sunderland are in America with the Black Cats set to face three pre-season games in the USA before returning to England to play Mallorca at the Stadium of Light and Hartlepool United at The Vic.

Alex Bass has departed the club on a season-long loan to League Two club AFC Wimbledon this week with Sunderland now short in the goalkeeping department after an injury to Adam Richardson.

The Black Cats also continued to be linked with incomings and outgoings as well as their Championship rivals with the transfer window now in full swing. Here, we take you through the headlines you may have missed:

Jordan Henderson latest

Former Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson is edging leaving towards a move to Saudi Arabia, according to recent reports.

The Liverpool captain will net a salary worth four times the amount that he’s currently earning says transfer insider David Ornstein

However, he continues that Liverpool have not yet received an offer but are expecting a bid if the 33-year-old England midfielder accepts the move.

Ross Stewart linked with Luton and Stoke

Luton Town and Stoke City have both been re-linked with Sunderland striker Ross Stewart during the summer transfer window.

The striker has one year left on his Sunderland deal with contract talks understood to have stalled. However, the Scottish forward is injured and is expected to miss the start of the season.

Birmingham City eye Josh Maja

Birmingham City are interested in former Sunderland striker Josh Maja who is currently a free agent after leaving French club Bordeaux, Soccernet reports.

Bordeaux are said to have offered Maja a one-year deal with an automatic renewal if promotion was achieved but they have now turned their attention toward finding another striker.

Maja netted 16 goals in the French second division during the 2022-23 season taking his career tally to 52 in 178 senior appearances across all competitions and has been heavily linked with a move to Rangers.

Maja, who left Sunderland for a reported £3.5million transfer package, has spent time on loan at Fulham in the Premier League and Stoke City in the Championship in recent years and saw a move to Birmingham City collapse a couple of windows ago.