Sunderland AFC transfer news LIVE: Reaction to Blackpool result as Cats linked with Arsenal and Monaco players

Sky Sports News presenter and Sunderland fan Tom White has revealed some details regarding the Black Cats’ transfer targets.

Speaking to Roker Report, he said: “We are in for a player from Arsenal called Ryan Alebiosu. Never seen him play, hadn’t heard of him until someone told me about him. We’re in for him but at this stage it’s only in talks. He’s a full-back, don’t even know if he’s right or left.

Sunderland are also said to have placed multiple bids for 21-year-old Exeter right-back Josh Key, including an offer for £1million plus add-ons.

Exeter, however, have rejected the Black Cats’ sizeable offer.

“There was a lot of talk about an Exeter right back, Josh Key, we had a few bids rejected for,” White said.

“I saw a few conspiracy theories going around that the club had leaked that information to try and appease the fans as we hadn’t signed anyone at that stage.

“Well I can assure you that story is absolutely not true, we’ve been in for this Josh Key from Exeter all summer and haven’t been able to get him. I don’t know if that deal is now off now that we’ve signed [Niall] Huggins but we were absolutely in for him and would spend quite a bit of money on him.

“Just in case there is anybody out there that thinks it was planted by the club, the club have been silent for the local and national media all summer, so that story was not leaked from the club because I know where it came from myself. We were very much in for him,

“This guy from Arsenal, Alebiosu, that would be a loan but at this stage we haven’t actually made the offer. It’s just a case of ’in talks’.”

Sunderland are also said to be desperate to sign a goalkeeper and have been linked with a move for former stopper Vito Mannone.

Connor Wickham is training with Preston North End following his Crystal Palace exit.

The 28-year-old has played just 33 league games in the past four seasons.

Wickham enjoyed a four campaign stint at the Stadium of Light – with loans at Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday in between – following an £8m move from Ipswich Town back in 2011.

The fee broke Ipswich’s record for transfer fees recouped, and broke the transfer record for a Football League player moving to a Premier League club at the time.

And the deal was seen as a coup for the North East club to sign Wickham at the time, having beaten off interest from Liverpool to capture his signature.

The former England youth international found the net just 15 times in 91 appearances on Wearside before sealing a move to Palace on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee in 2015.

Sources at the time reported the fee as a fee rising £9m, meaning around £17m in transfers has been spent on Wickham throughout his career.

The striker scored two goals in 13 games on loan at Sheffield Wednesday in 2019-20, but did not feature at all last season as the Owls were relegated to League One.

“He’s in and he’s training,” Preston North End boss Frankie McAvoy said.

He told BBC Radio Lancashire: “He’s not played a lot of games. We need to look at him, see how he does and see if he can come and do a role here.

“If he can then we’ll look to sign him. If we don’t then we’ll be honest with him.”

Corry Evans has been called up for Northern Ireland.

The Sunderland captain has been named in Ian Baraclough’s squad but there was no place for defender Tom Flanagan.

Evans, who signed for the Black Cats during the summer, has missed the club’s last two league games with a hamstring injury sustained against MK Dons.

Head coach Lee Johnson had stated that he expected the player to be out until September.

However, Evans has been called up for Northern Ireland’s games against Lithuania, Estonia and Switzerland at the beginning of next month.

Johnson said of the injury earlier this month: “It’s a tough one with Corry. Because we recruited him late, we were chasing his minutes and he was getting fit through games at 80 percent.

“He’s got a low-grade hamstring injury, but we think he is a quick healer so it is probably going to be 10-14 days.”

Evans’ call up means Sunderland’s League One clash against Sheffield Wednesday on September 4 could be postponed.

If a club has three international call ups they can choose to postpone the fixture while players are away representing their countries.

Sunderland have therefore announced that ticket information for the match will be delayed, and have thanked supporters for their patience.

New signing Frederik Alves played for Denmark Under-21s at this summer’s European Under-21 Championships whilst Dennis Cirkin and Callum Doyle have featured for England’s youth teams previously.

Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell has also been called up to the Northern Ireland squad with the Owls also waiting for news on further call-ups.