Sunderland closing in on Southampton left-back Jake Vokins

He is set to join on loan until the end of the season, with the Premier League side keen for him to get game time.

Sunderland have been targeting a left-back this month to provide cover and competition for Denver Hume.

Given he is under-21, his wage will not count towards the salary cap – nor will he count towards the League One squad cap.

Speaking on Thursday, Sunderland head coach Lee Johnson revealed he would ideally like to bring in three new signings, with Jordan Jones set to arrive on loan from Rangers, the left winger had been out of favour up in Scotland.

When asked about his aims for the rest of the window, Johnson said: "I am confident we will get at least one in, hopefully two and ideally three.

“I think the more we move towards the twos and threes there will have to be movement.

“But we are on it and the boys are doing a great job behind the scenes, we have all been looking extensively into the type of personality and players we want to bring in.

“We have had to do it this window generally with our own knowledge and contacts without the in-depth recruitment department currently in the club.

“There has been some excellent names on the list, some fall away, some are still there and those are the ones we are trying to attack now,” he added.

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