Sunderland have once again been linked with a swoop for Santiago Gimenez

Sunderland are pushing to wrap up a deal to sign AC Milan striker Santiago Gimenez, according to reports.

The Black Cats have made a hugely promising start to their long-awaited Premier League return, and have been able to build upon a solid foundation created by an ambitious summer recruitment drive.

And to that end, with his side flying high in the table, Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has hinted that he could look to conduct even more business in January. It is within this context that the Black Cats were linked with a move for Gimenez earlier this month, with a flurry of speculation in the past 24 hours reasserting their interest.

What has been said about Sunderland’s transfer interest in AC Milan striker Santiago Gimenez?

According to SportMediaset, via MilanNews, Sunderland are “pushing for the Mexican” and “are already in contact with his agent, Rafaela Pimenta”. The article goes on to suggest that the Black Cats are willing to table a package that will include a paid loan with an obligation to buy attached, provided certain conditions are met.

At this stage, it is unclear whether Milan would agree to any such deal, having paid around £26.4 million for Gimenez in January. That being said, it is also claimed that sporting director Igli Tare has already identified a prospective replacement for Gimenez - Parma hitman Mateo Pellegrino.

This latest update comes off the back of a piece from CalcioMercato, who suggest that the Black Cats are currently leading Premier League rivals Brentford in the race to sign the 24-year-old. Florent Ghisolfi’s influence is cited as a key factor in their strong position, but it is also stated that Milan would ideally be looking to recoup the sizeable transfer fee they paid Feyenoord for the attacker less than 12 months ago.

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What has Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said about Sunderland’s January transfer plans?

During a recent appearance on Sky Sports, when asked about his January transfer plans in the wake of Sunderland’s positive start to the new campaign, chairman Louis-Dreyfus said: “I think the stats showed to us that unless you do something extraordinary you're likely going to go back to the Championship. For us, we didn't really set ourselves a budget in terms of the money we want to spend - we had an ambition to try and bring in the players we want and fortunately a lot of the deals we wanted to do we were able to conclude them, and as a result of that the spend in the end was big, but most importantly we got the players that we wanted.

“I would say definitely a little bit [that the great start could affect Sunderland’s approach in January] because obviously if we're in the bottom three by Christmas or we're in the top six by Christmas that changes the ambition a little bit. We're currently preparing for all scenarios but we've been doing that since the summer, so hopefully we'll be going into the January window with a top ten finish in mind and we will prepare and execute the transfer window to give us the best chance.”

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