Sunderland on brink of major January transfer breakthrough as Leeds United loan moves closer

Gelhardt was made available for loan earlier this month after the arrival of striker Georginio Rutter from Hoffenheim, immediately drawing interest from a host of Championship clubs.

An emotional return to Wigan Athletic, where he broke through to spectacular effect before the club entered administration, looked at one stage to be close to completion.

However, Sunderland have made a strong push for the 20-year-old this week and there is now increasing confidence that he will make the move to the north east for the rest of the season.

The Black Cats have been in talks with both club and player and it now seems as if all three parties believe the Stadium of Light is the best place for his development.

Sunderland are keen to add cover and competition for Ross Stewart and Gelhardt’s quality gives him a good chance of featuring regularly between now and the end of the season.

Head coach Tony Mowbray confirmed this afternoon that efforts to sign a new striker were ongoing, with the club increasingly pessimistic with regards to their chances of bringing Ellis Simms back from Everton.

Mowbray said: “We will hopefully get one or potentially two in to help Ross.

"With what's going on at Everton, it looks pretty unlikely that Ellis will be coming back - they haven't got a manager and if I was going in there, I'd want to see all the players on the grass and see if they might be able to help. That looks like a really tight thing to rely on, because he might well not come back.”