Sunderland making progress on double deal with Tony Mowbray's attacking reinforcements near

Sunderland are moving to try and reinforce their attacking options ahead of the new Championship campaign, with a deal for Sochaux striker Eliezier Mayende advanced and the club in talks with a move for former Blackburn Rovers forward Bradley Dack.

Dack was signed by Blackburn Rovers from Gillingham while Tony Mowbray was in charge, and enjoyed a hugely productive spell before suffering two ACL injuries. He returned to action last year and made 27 appearances at Ewood Park, but was frustrated with his diminished playing time under Jon Dahl Tomasson.

Gregg Broughton, director of football at Ewood Park, said earlier this summer: "Firstly in terms of the reason, Bradley feels he should have played more this year and wants to play more next year.

“I don’t think we were in a position to be able to make those guarantees to him.

“In terms of how the decision was made, no player is either signed for the club, internally or externally, without the sign-off of the head coach.

“But it’s really important to go on record and say this isn’t just Jon’s decision, he signs it off as the head coach, but we all have an input in that.

“With Bradley he understands that if we couldn’t give him the guarantees that he wanted to play next year it’s right for all parties now for him to be allowed to do that."

Sunderland were linked with a move for Dack in the January window but Mowbray made clear that he did not feel the club would be able to afford him and also raised doubts over whether the club would pay a fee for a player in his late twenties given the wider operating model. However, Dack's position as a free agent this summer looks to have changed the situation and though a deal is not done, there appears to be a belief from all sides that an agreement could be reached this time around.

Dack would bring significant Championship experience and a good deal of tactical versatility across the forward line.

Though there is still work to do, it looks as if Mowbray's call for attacking reinforcements before the new campaign begins is being heeded.

Mayende, a Spanish youth international, is highly rated at Sochaux but the club's financial uncertainty has allowed Sunderland to strike a deal. Accoring to L'Equipe, it will cost Sunderland in the region of 1 million Euros with a future sell-on clause

While Mowbray has been pleased with Hemir's progress, since joining from Benfica B, he knows that depth is needed with Ross Stewart still sidelined.

"I think we still need some additions at the top end of the pitch and we're working really hard behind the scenes to make that happen," Mowbray said on Tuesday.

"I'm pretty confident that given the timescale to the first game, we'll have some help in that area. "