Sunderland make £5m transfer offer with Sheffield United, Norwich & Stoke set to follow | OneFootball

The Black Cats have submitted an offer to secure the signature of Tom Cannon, who seems to be surplus to requirements at the King Power Stadium.

Key Takeaways

Sunderland have launched an offer in their quest to recruit Leicester City striker Tom Cannon.

According to John Percy, who took to X to reveal this news, the Black Cats have submitted a bid in the region of £5m to recruit the Foxes' forward, with Regis Le Bris' side attempting to beat other teams to his signature.

The Championship side are in need of more attacking firepower after the exit of Jack Clarke, who was a major game-changer for the club during his two permanent seasons at the Stadium of Light.

Registering 15 goals and four assists in all competitions last term, the winger made a real difference from the left-hand side, and the Wearside outfit will be hoping that Romaine Mundle can come in and fill the void that the Black Cats' former star man has created with his departure.

However, the club can't rely solely on Mundle to replace Clarke, with plenty of attacking options needed in attack if they are to be just as deadly in attack during this season.

Wilson Isidor has recently arrived on loan, but there's still work to be done in the forward department.

Nazariy Rusyn may still need time to adapt to life on Wearside and both Luis Hemir and Eliezer Mayenda are still inexperienced at this point.

Cannon is another fairly young player at 21, but he has already proved his worth at this level before, doing well at Leicester last season when he had the opportunity to play.

He was also a real asset at Preston North End during the second half of the 2022/23 campaign, joining the Lilywhites on loan and proving to be a solid replacement for Cameron Archer.

However, there are other players ahead of him in the pecking order at the King Power Stadium and it's believed that the Foxes are ready to cash in on him.

He could cost as much as £7m though - and there are plenty of teams that have taken an interest in him in recent times.

Sunderland face stern competition for Tom Cannon

The Black Cats have submitted a bid in the region of £5m in their attempt to recruit Cannon, according to Percy, with Le Bris' side submitting a bid that may tempt Leicester with their £7m price tag in mind.

Having the financial muscle to submit a bid of this size after the departure of Clarke, this could give them an edge over their competitors in the race.

However, other teams have also retained an interest in the player.

Norwich City, Sheffield United and Stoke City are all expected to make offers for the Irishman too, which could potentially spark a bidding war for the 21-year-old.

The Canaries have lost the likes of Adam Idah and Jonathan Rowe and could benefit from bringing in another attacker.

And the Blades could also benefit from strengthening their depth in the striker department after losing Cameron Archer and Will Osula.

Stoke, meanwhile, have signed Sam Gallagher but are seemingly keen to add more depth to their forward area.

The Black Cats are in need of more attacking firepower.

Clarke may have been a winger, but they may not be able to bring in an adequate like-for-like replacement before the window shuts.

Also, they need to give Mundle a chance to develop, and he may not get that game time if a replacement for Clarke is recruited externally.

They can help to replace the firepower lost by strengthening their forward department.

And as someone who is a proven scorer at this level, Cannon could be a very shrewd addition at the Stadium of Light.