Sunderland have endured a difficult morning in their search for a new striker.
Things had looked a lot more positive in recent weeks, having won all three of their opening Championship fixtures and been linked with some top names.
Sunderland had already bolstered their attack with the addition of Wilson Isidor, while they had made offers to Alexandre Mendy, Tom Cannon and Roko Simic.
However, the never-ending transfer saga surrounding Mendy has now come to an abrupt end after it was reported today that he had decided to stay at Caen.
It had left the Black Cats with two options to sign before tomorrow’s deadline, but it now appears that they may now just be relying on Cannon.
Sunderland miss out on another striker target
According to Wales Online journalist Glen Williams, Cardiff City are ‘closing in’ on the signing of Simic.
It was clear that the RB Salzburg striker had plenty of options and could well have played top division football elsewhere, but he has instead chosen to join the Bluebirds.
Writing on X, Williams said: “Cardiff are closing in on the signing of Roko Simic from RB Salzburg. However my understanding is that he is set to join KV Kortrijk on loan.
“Club feel he can solve striker issue and be their main CF, but ideally needs another year of top-flight football.”
Sunderland targeted Simic as their first-choice striker, having scored 34 goals in 120 senior appearances. So it seems rather bizarre that he is actually chosen to go to Cardiff instead, despite the fact they don’t think he’s ready for senior football.
He will instead be loaned out to KV Kortrijk, who narrowly avoided relegation from the Belgian Pro League last season.
Why would Roko Simic choose Cardiff City over Sunderland?
Simic won’t return to Cardiff until next summer and would surely regret his decision if Sunderland had been promoted to the Premier League by then.
It seems a very strange decision from the Croatian, but is surely one that comes down to wages, as the Black Cats definitely had plenty of cash to spend on his fee.
That is, unless, they have progressed with a deal for Cannon. The club had already bid £5m but face fierce competition for his signature.
If Sunderland are to miss out to one of their Championship rivals then it is incredibly difficult to see them securing a goalscoring forward before tomorrow’s deadline, and fans will feel they are back to square one.