One formerly-linked midfielder has received a bid from a fellow Championship promotion chaser.
The Black Cats made strides early on in the January transfer window in looking to bolster their options, with the deal to sign Enzo Le Fee, but it has been a challenging period ever since in regards to recruitment.
Sunderland have had two attacking targets snapped up by fellow promotion contenders Sheffield United, who persuaded both Ben Brereton Diaz and Tom Cannon to join up in the Steel City.
It now looks set that, whilst the Black Cats aren’t actively seeking a deal for the formerly-linked player, one Frenchman that Sunderland were linked to in the summer is weighing up interest from another promotion chaser, Burnley.
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Burnley lodge six-figure bid for previous Sunderland target Ayman Kari
Sunderland, as things stand, don’t have too many issues in regards to depth in-the centre-of-the-park, with Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris currently having a wealth of options to choose from.
Nonetheless, they were not fully satisfied with their options on Deadline Day in the summer, where they showed interest in PSG midfielder Ayman Kari.
Six months later, and the 20-year-old is yet again receiving Championship interest, this time from Burnley, who, per Santi Aouna, have reportedly lodged a €750,000 bid to attain his services.
Kari spent a year-and-a-half on loan at FC Lorient from January 2023 onwards, where he played under current Black Cats boss Le Bris and alongside Enzo Le Fee.
Regis Le Bris could be interested in reforming Enzo Le Fee and Ayman Kari partnership
Sunderland boss Le Bris clearly decided to push for the Le Fee deal and make Kristjaan Speakman aware that he was his number-one target purely because the French coach had that assurance of his quality seen first-hand when previously managing him.
Not only could this potentially be repeated with current PSG midfielder Kari, but Le Bris additionally may want to rejuvenate a midfield partnership of the Burnley-linked man and Le Fee.
Whilst the pair didn’t play too many games together, only spending the back end of the 2022/23 season together, they were both utilised in a famous 3-1 away win at PSG, where Le Fee bagged a goal.
Le Bris will no doubt be made aware of Burnley’s interest in his former player, and whilst midfield options are sufficient at this point, he could potentially ask Speakman to return with an offer this January.