It’s not meant to be for Sunderland and Tom Cannon. The Black Cats have tried and failed to sign the Irishman in several transfer windows now, but with a long-term move to Sheffield United nearing, it seems we’ll never see Cannon playing for the Black Cats.
Kristjaan Speakman will be gutted to see Tom Cannon near a move to Sheffield United. He’s tried to bring the former Everton striker to Sunderland on multiple occasions, with the Black Cats willing to break the bank for his signature this time round.
It was claimed that Sunderland would pay £13million to sign Cannon from Leicester City as Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus really makes a go of promotion from the Championship.
But as has been increasingly expected, it looks as though Cannon is nearing a move to Sheffield United. The Blades currently sit in 2nd place of the Championship table compared to Sunderland in 4th.
| 1 | Leeds | 28 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 53 | 19 | 34 | 59 |
| 2 | Sheffield Utd | 28 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 40 | 18 | 22 | 58 |
| 3 | Burnley | 28 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 36 | 9 | 27 | 56 |
| 4 | Sunderland | 28 | 15 | 9 | 4 | 40 | 22 | 18 | 54 |
And there’s no doubting that Cannon will greatly bolster Chris Wilder’s own promotion push. The 22-year-old scored nine goals in 22 Championship outings on loan at Stoke City in the first half of the campaign.
Details of Sheffield United deal for Tom Cannon as Sunderland suffer transfer blow
Alan Nixon has now revealed on Patreon the details of Sheffield United’s deal for Cannon, and how the Blades managed to beat Sunderland in the race for his signature. As expected, it’s come at a costly price for Sheffield United who are forking out £13million.
But the Blades are paying an incredible £10million up front now, which is surely how they managed to fend off Sunderland who wanted to pay big for Cannon in the event of promotion from the Championship. Sheffield United will pay a further £3million in bonuses.
Cannon will sign a four-and-a-half year deal at Bramall Lane. Nixon adds that Cannon and United have been in contract talks for several days, following what’s been a hectic couple of weeks for the striker.
Sunderland turn attentions to striker duo after Tom Cannon blow
It looks like Sunderland accepted their fate in the Cannon race a few days ago, given the fact that the Black Cats are now being linked with other potential striker signings.
It’s reported that Sunderland have agreed to sign Matija Frigan from Westerlo in Belgium. Though we’re yet to hear anymore on that front in the last few days, so how reliable that story was remains to be seen.
Elsewhere, Sunderland are linked with Emil Riis at Preston. It’s an underwhelming link but it reinstates Sunderland’s hopes to sign a new striker in the final days of the winter window.