Sunderland are now poised to miss out on one of their reported summer transfer targets.
Sunderland are edging ever closer to the start of the new Championship season.
Yet for head coach Regis Le Bris and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, there’s still plenty of work to do in the summer transfer market.
Sunderland have signed just four new players this summer; all of which being free agents, with Blondy Nou Noukeu signing for Sunderland last week.
Speakman addressed Sunderland’s need for a new striker earlier in the summer and the Black Cats have been linked with several.
Sunderland target Alexandre Mendy has seen his links to the Stadium of Light go somewhat cold, then last week, Sunderland were linked with Troyes’ Ike Ugbo.
Sheffield Wednesday have been trying desperately to re-sign the Canadian international this summer and it was reported last week that the Owls had agreed a £2.5million fee for Ugbo.
But Sunderland entered the race for Ugbo amid concerns between Troyes and Wednesday over the structure of the deal.
Sheffield Wednesday close to signing Sunderland-linked Ike Ugbo
Now, it looks like Sunderland’s pursuit of former Chelsea youngster Ugbo is all but over.
Sheffield Wednesday have been backed to complete the deal all summer long and now journalist Alex Miller has revealed that Ugbo to Hillsborough could be complete in the ‘next 48 hours’.
Miller adds that Sheffield Wednesday ‘pushed on’ with their pursuit of former loan man Ugbo following the news of Sunderland’s apparent interest in the striker.
Miller posted on X:
What next for Kristjaan Speakman and Sunderland after Ike Ugbo blow
It’s highly likely that Sunderland have quite a long list of striker targets that Speakman is going through, and ticking names off as and when they become out of reach.
Speakman can now surely cross Ugbo’s name off the list. Next, it may be that Sunderland reaffirm their interest in Mendy who seems desperate to leave Caen this summer.
Mendy released a statement last week, outlining his desire to leave the French club who appear to be asking for a bloated transfer fee for their star striker.
Whether or not Sunderland and Caen come to an agreement remains to be seen; and what other strikers Speakman has on his radar also remains to be seen.
It looks like Le Bris will start the new season without a striker signing, and Speakman has just a few more weeks now to find one or two new front-men.