Sunderland are once again in the race to sign Tom Cannon. They’ve tried in a couple of transfer windows now, with the Irishman even scoring against the Black Cats over the weekend.
Tom Cannon is a name who’s seemingly always linked with a move to Sunderland: He was before his £7.5million move from Everton to Leicester City in the summer of 2023, then again when the Foxes loaned him out in the summer of 2024.
Stoke City won the race for the Irishman who’s since scored nine goals in 22 Championship outings. Last time out, Cannon scored in Stoke City’s 2-1 win over Sunderland in the FA Cup third round.
But there’s uncertainty around the 22-year-old’s immediate future. Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy says Cannon could be recalled and sent elsewhere for the second half of the season, with a move to the top end of the Championship widely speculated.
Sunderland and Sheffield United both want Cannon to bolster their promotion credentials this season.
Sunderland and Sheffield United in £7m race to sign Tom Cannon
An emerging report from Alan Nixon on Patreon has revealed that Leicester City want £7million to offload Cannon permanently during this January transfer window. Leicester will do a loan-to-buy deal but Nixon says that ‘anyone buying outright may yet clinch the deal’.
Worryingly for Sunderland, Nixon states that Sheffield United are ‘being backed’ by their new owners and that the Blades are ‘ready to go to £7million’ to win the race for Cannon, with Nixon also adding that it’s seemingly a battle between Sunderland and Sheffield United.
As things stand, the Blades sit in 3rd place of the Championship table and Sunderland in 4th, with just two points separating the two teams. On New Year’s Day, Sunderland beat Sheffield United 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.
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| 1 | Leeds | 26 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 48 | 19 | 29 | 53 |
| 2 | Burnley | 26 | 14 | 10 | 2 | 31 | 9 | 22 | 52 |
| 3 | Sheffield Utd | 26 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 36 | 17 | 19 | 52 |
| 4 | Sunderland | 26 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 39 | 22 | 17 | 50 |
| 5 | Middlesbrough | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 32 | 11 | 41 |
| 6 | West Brom | 26 | 9 | 13 | 4 | 32 | 21 | 11 | 40 |
How much did Sunderland bid for Tom Cannon on deadline day last summer?
Sunderland tried to buy Cannon from Leicester City on deadline day last summer, with the Black Cats lodging a £5million bid for the striker in the build up to the finale which saw Sunderland sign four other players.
Now amid this promotion push, it could be safe to assume that Sunderland would go a further £2million to sign a player they’re clearly fond of in Cannon. But after the arrival of Enzo Le Fee on loan, the Sunderland owners may be more stringent with their spending in the remainder of January.
It looks like Sheffield United are leading the race right now, and it looks like they might win it too.