Sunderland linked with THREE as Cats receive transfer boost and striker mulls over fresh contract terms

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The Black Cats have secured their play-off spot after a 3-1 win against Plymouth Argyle last weekend with goals from Ross Stewart, Chris Maguire and Denver Hume at Home Park

Here, though, we take you through all of the latest transfer gossip and talk from around the division:

Sunderland Portsmouth and Ipswich-linked striker stalling on new St Johnstone contract

Sunderland-linked striker Guy Melamed is stalling on signing a new deal at St Johnstone.

Boss Callum Davidson has conceded there's a strong chance the Israeli will leave the Saints this summer.

Last month reports linked Sunderland, Portsmouth and Ipswich with the forward.

Melamed has been offered 'a very good contract' to extend his stay at McDiarmid Park.

But Davidson admits the 28-year-old's future is out of the Saints' hands.

He told The Courier: “We’ve offered him a very good contract and his agent just wants to wait and see.

“That’s all we can do. We can’t offer money that’s not there for somebody. We have a budget, it’s been a difficult time with Covid and we’ve offered him a really good deal. The agent has said he’ll wait and see and that’s where we are.

“Obviously we can’t be paying out ridiculous money – that’s not what St Johnstone does and we can’t afford it. But there are other players out there that we’ll find and have a look at in case he doesn’t stay.

“Would we like him to stay? The answer is yes but we might be out priced. The fact he’s done so well has probably not helped our cause.

“He’s performed and scored goals at really important times this season. It’s a tough one. I knew when he came in that we might only get a year out of him.

“The one thing none of us knew the extent of was Covid. He didn’t get a pre-season and he missed a lot of football and it took him a long time to adapt to the Scottish league.

"I still think there’s more to come from Guy if he has a pre-season with us. It’s probably out of our hands at the moment.”

Sunderland could be set to add two new players to their under-23 ranks.

Northampton Town academy midfielder Tom Scott is reportedly set to join the Black Cats at the end of the season having been involved in some of the club’s recent Premier League 2 fixtures. Scott could again feature as Sunderland’s under-23 side head to Stoke City tonight.

And he may not be the only new addition to Elliott Dickman’s squad over the summer – with the Sun claiming that the Wearsiders want to sign Manchester United goalkeeper Jacob Carney.

Carney, who is currently on loan at Portadown, is also thought to be on the radar of Burnley ahead of his contract expiring this summer.

A number of Sunderland’s under-23 side see their contracts expire this summer, meaning Dickman could well be in the market for fresh recruits.

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