Sunderland emerge ahead of Everton as favourites for £17m transfer deal - reports

Sunderland have emerged as the “main favourites” to sign Ukrainian attacker Vladyslav Vanat, according to reports.

The Dynamo Kyiv striker has been repeatedly linked with a move to the Stadium of Light in recent weeks after having enjoyed a hugely successful campaign in his home country during which he finished as the top scorer in the Ukrainian Premier League.

And despite a groundswell of interest in the player from a number of English clubs, it is understood that Sunderland are currently leading the race of his signature.

What has been said about Sunderland’s interest in Vladyslav Vanat?

According to a report from TaToTake, Sunderland have been weighing up the prospect of a bid of up to £16.8 million for Vanat, who predominantly operates as a centre-forward and registered 21 goals in all competitions last season. The 23-year-old is currently away on international duty with Ukraine’s U21s ahead of the upcoming European Championships, and as such any offer for the player is likely to come in the aftermath of the tournament.

Ukrainian outlet Champion take that speculation further, however, by claiming that the Black Cats have edged ahead of fellow suitors Leeds United, Everton, and Fulham in the battle for Vanat’s services. It is stated that Regis Le Bris’ side are “main favourites” for the attacker, but it is unclear at this stage as to whether they will be willing to meet Dynamo’s asking price.

In recent times, Turkish outfit Trabzonspor have also been touted as admirers, but Dynamo president Ihor Surkis has sought to quell rumours that his side have received any offers for Vanat as yet. He said: “All these are still just ‘fake news’ that have no confirmation. The club didn’t receive anything. If there are proposals, we will consider. Transfers are made in silence.”

What has been said about Sunderland’s summer transfer plans?

Outlining Sunderland’s plans for the summer transfer window during an interview last week, sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said: "We're always trying to get the balance right between being prepared for whichever league you might be in and we've tried to do that.

"Naturally as a play-off winning team you're behind where other clubs might be, but we're fast-tracking that and catching up. We're looking to improve and build a team that is capable of staying in the Premier League, I think the objective is fairly clear.

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“Everyone will point to the statistics as to how difficult it is to stay in the Premier League and we're fully aware of that, we're not naive. Our strategy in getting to the Premier League and the solutions we needed, to the ones we need to stay there, will be different. That's work we're doing at the minute but ultimately, we're going to stick to our values. We need to have a team that the community and city is proud of, we've build that in the current team and we have to have that in the Premier League.

"When we came to the club we had a multi-year strategy about how we'd able to get back to the Premier League, and it's about continuing that way of thinking. We're going to make decisions that are in the best interests of the club to try and retain our position in the Premier League, while also making decisions that don't negatively impact the club in the long term. I think we've seen before at Sunderland that if you don't consider those factors, how negative that can be in the long term. I don't think it's necessarily anything different in terms of our principles, but there are clearly key decisions coming up around making sure we have a squad capable of achieving our objective of staying up."

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