Sunderland and Sheffield United are two of the teams vying for promotion to the Premier League right now. But either side’s fate could be determined by which one, if any, signs Tom Cannon from Leicester City.
Leicester City have recalled striker Tom Cannon from Stoke City, and now he’s poised for another move, either on loan or permanently with a handful of teams looking very interested.
Two of the teams interested are Championship promotion rivals Sunderland and Sheffield United. It’s been claimed that both are ready to pay £13million for Cannon, but whether the Foxes want money now, or whether they can wait until the summer, could be decisive.
It’s also thought that Everton and Burnley are in the race for Cannon, though a possible return to Goodison Park has been heavily played down so far.
The last 24 hours or so has been quiet on the Cannon front. But expect the likes of United and Sunderland to be working hard behind the scenes, with the transfer window now coming into its final two weeks.
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Alan Nixon makes Sheffield United favourites to sign Tom Cannon
Journalist Alan Nixon has been at the centre of the Cannon story so far. And posting on BlueSky, he’s now made the Blades favourites to sign Cannon ahead of Sunderland. However, Nixon adds that there’s a lot of work still to be done.
At first, it was Sheffield United who were prepared to bid £7million for Cannon. Then came Sunderland with their apparent £13million bid, but that would’ve been to sign him in the event of promotion next summer.
Sheffield United saw their takeover go through at the end of 2024 and the Blades now look set to do some spending before the February 3rd transfer deadline.
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Make them fav … but it’s not done … a fair bit to do …
— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko.bsky.social) 16 January 2025 at 16:48
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Sunderland have identified a Tom Cannon alternative
A Sunderland deal for Cannon looks to be hanging in the balance.
Both the Black Cats and the Blades are clearly keen and clearly ready to put their money where their mouth is, but it could be a deal that quickly gets out of Sunderland’s price range, especially with the Blades having new owners in place who are surely eager to impress Chris Wilder and co.
Kristjaan Speakman has already identified a Cannon alternative in Westerlo striker Matija Frigan. But Sunderland must pay at least £4.6million for Frigan, with Westerlo not prepared to let the Croatian striker go on the cheap.
Either way, if Sunderland want a new striker in January, it looks like it’ll cost them big. That is unless they sign a striker on loan, though how good he’d be remains to be seen.