Sunderland transfer news: Black Cats boss makes transfer ‘quality’ vs ‘cost’ claim, Stoke City ‘reach agreement’ with Man City striker

With a little under two weeks remaining in the summer transfer window, clubs across the second tier of English football are running out of time to get any deals done.

As well as the focus on adding to their squads, the new season is now well underway after four rounds of fixtures.

Sunderland find themselves sitting 11th in the table after a mixed start which has seen Alex Neil’s side draw two, lose one and win one including last night’s 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United.

They will be looking to get back to winning ways this Saturday when they make the trip to Stoke City.

Here are the EFL Championship transfer news stories making the headlines on Thursday morning:

Steve Bruce has admitted that West Bromwich Albion do not have a list of transfer targets and will have to see which players become available in the final weeks of the window (Football League World)

Watford are in talks with Southampton over the transfer of central defender Jack Stephens (The Athletic)

Tottenham are closing in on a deal for Blackburn Rovers’ highly promising centre back Ashley Phillips (Daily Mail)

Everton have reportedly switched focus to Blackburn Rovers striker Ben Brereton Diaz as they struggle to make a breakthrough in their pursuit of Chelsea duo Armando Broja and Michy Batshuayi (The Express)

Stoke City have reached an agreement with Manchester City to sign striker Liam Delap on loan (The Athletic)

Sunderland boss Alex Neil has confirmed he still wants to bring in new players but he admitted that finding the right quality for the right price is tough (Football League World)

Hull City are set to announce the signing of Ryan Woods from Birmingham City in the next 24 hours (Football Insider)

Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom has praised Prince Abdullah and the club’s board for their continued backing when it comes to retaining Sander Berge (Football League World)

Preston North End have placed an £8million price tag on the head of Middlesbrough-wanted Emil Riis (Football Insider)