Sunderland are among Championship clubs to ‘have made an enquiry’ about this Leicester City player.
Sunderland look as though they’re closing in on a couple of summer signings.
It’s reported that Caen striker Alexandre Mendy is in Sunderland for a medical ahead of his proposed move from France.
Elsewhere, Sunderland are hoping to sign Ian Poveda, with an image having surfaced online which appears to show Poveda outside the Academy of Light.
Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman is under pressure to deliver positive results in this summer’s transfer window, having already brought in Simon Moore and Alan Browne on free transfers.
New head coach Regis Le Bris is being given more Championship experience within his first-team squad after Sunderland’s disappointing 2023/24 season, which saw the club finish in 16th place of the Championship table.
But the Black Cats may still look at signing some younger players, and still look at the possibility of some loan signings too, with one such transfer now reported.
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Sunderland enquire about Leicester City centre-back Ben Nelson
Leicester City won the Championship title last season, returning to the Premier League after a one-season hiatus.
And Sunderland could now raid the King Power Stadium for Ben Nelson, per journalist Michael Graham.
Nelson, 20, plays for England’s U20s alongside Jobe Bellingham, and featured five times in the Championship for Leicester City last season.
Graham has revealed on X that Sunderland ‘have made an enquiry’ to sign Nelson on loan this summer, but that the Black Cats face competition from a ‘number’ of Championship rivals.
Do Sunderland need to sign another centre-back this summer
Sunderland have pretty good depth in most areas of the pitch, but one where they don’t, other than no.9, is at centre-back.
Dan Ballard and Aji Alese are really the only natural centre-backs at the club with Luke O’Nien a natural midfielder, albeit comfortable at centre-back.
Ballard has picked up an injury which looks set to rule him out of the opening few games of the 2024/25 Championship season, so now a new centre-back signing may take priority.
Nelson remains a very young and inexperienced player but appears to be highly-rated at Leicester, who have the Englishman under contract until 2027.
And Sunderland remains a very attractive place for Premier League clubs to send their youngsters on loan, with the club having plenty of faith in younger players like Nelson who’d surely get his share of game time next season.
If Sunderland can win the race for Nelson, it could prove to be a very useful signing for Le Bris.