Sunderland are looking to sign Luciano Rodriguez at Liverpool of Montevideo.
That’s according to journalist Alan Nixon via Patreon, who has reported that head of recruitment Stuart Harvey was in South America last week.
Luciano Rodriguez began his career with Uruguayan second division club C.A Progreso and made his senior debut in January 2021, at 17 years old.
The forward was snapped up by Liverpool Montevideo a year later and has since netted seven goals and provided four assists in 28 games in all competitions for his hometown club.
Rodriguez has made a positive impact on the international stage too, as he was named in Uruguay’s squad for the South American U20 Championship at the start of the year.
The 20-year-old bagged five goals and two assists in only nine games as the national team were beaten by Brazil in the final.
Rodriguez then went onto win the FIFA U20 World Cup in the summer, having scored the winner in the final against Italy.
Rodriguez – who has previously been compared to Kylian Mbappe – has since attracted the attention of Sunderland, who have already been scouting him in South America.
The report claims it is an ‘ambitious’ move for the Black Cats, but that they are willing to cough up plenty of cash following the exit of Ross Stewart in the summer.
The Scottish striker left Wearside to join Southampton in an £8 million deal on transfer deadline day, while Sunderland are yet to use up the hefty fee elsewhere.
Rodriguez is said to be keen to move to Europe and so Sunderland will look to act fast in order to avoid any unwanted competition.
Can Sunderland make their hunt for South Americans work?
Luciano Rodriguez is one of many exciting young prospects to come out of Uruguay, with president of Liverpool Jose Luis Palma previously hailing his ‘class’ and suggesting he is very unique.
Sunderland have made their intentions to look further abroad for new talent has been clear, having previously brought in Jewison Bennette.
However, the Costa Rican has so far struggled to impress and looks far from the level required of the Championship on a regular basis.
While Bennette was much younger than Rodriguez, the Black Cats need to be very wary around these transfers and can’t just expect them to come over from small clubs in South America and replicate their performances in front of over 40,000 people on Wearside.
The likes of Federico Valverde and Ronald Araujo have left Uruguay to join some of the biggest clubs in the world and have taken their time to make it work. We need to do the same.