Relegated club interested in retaining ex-Sunderland, Portsmouth, Cardiff City and Nottingham Forest man's services

What news is there from the Stadium of Light and around the EFL as Sunderland gear up for another summer rebuild?
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Lee Johnson’s men failed to overcome Lincoln City over two legs in the League One play-off semi-final and now face a fourth straight season in the third tier of English football.

Here, we take a look gossip from around the internet following the clash against the Imps.

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Here, we take a look at the latest Sunderland related transfer news and general talk from around the EFL that you may have missed today:

Greg Halford of Southend United celebrates his team's third goal during the Sky Bet League Two match between Southend United and Grimsby Town at Roots Hall.Greg Halford of Southend United celebrates his team's third goal during the Sky Bet League Two match between Southend United and Grimsby Town at Roots Hall.
Greg Halford of Southend United celebrates his team's third goal during the Sky Bet League Two match between Southend United and Grimsby Town at Roots Hall.

Southend United boss Phil Brown has said that the club are keen to keep ex-Sunderland player Greg Halford

The League Two club – who have just been relegated to the National League – brought the 36-year-old ace in back in December, agreeing a short-term deal until the end of the season.

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He took to Linkedin to offer his services to clubs last year and insisted he was willing to play without pay until January in a bid to return to the game.

The move paid off for Halfrord with Southend securing his services, although he could so nothing to to stop his club’s slide.

Halford spent two years on Wearside having been signed for the Black Cats by Roy Keane in 2007 for a reported fee of around £2.5million.

But he managed just nine appearances at the Stadium of Light before joining Wolves in 2009.

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And while he struggled for game time at Sunderland, Halford has gone on to rack up over 500 career appearances for clubs such as Portsmouth, Cardiff City and Nottingham Forest.

Speaking to Southend Echo News, Brown said the club could look offer him a pay-as-you-play deal in the National League.

“I’ve said to him we would be getting an offer across to him but it would be based on time rather than money and it’s ongoing.

“What I mean by that is in the National League you can go game to game, month to month or whatever you want to.”

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